NVIDIA Networking Product Guide: ConnectX, Quantum, BlueField for AI

The Mellanox brand, now fully integrated as NVIDIA Networking, has transitioned from a niche high-performance computing (HPC) player to the dominant force in AI backend infrastructure. In FY2026, the networking division achieved $31 billion in revenue (up from ~$3B in FY2025), fueled by massive demand for AI factories Firstpasslab.

Key Market Insights & Trends

* Ethernet Overtaking InfiniBand: While InfiniBand was the standard for AI clusters (80% share in 2023), Ethernet surpassed it in market adoption by 2025. This shift is driven by the NVIDIA Spectrum-X platform, which brings InfiniBand-like performance to traditional Ethernet fabrics Delloro.

* The 1.6 Tb/s Race: NVIDIA is moving to a one-year hardware cycle. Following the current 400G (ConnectX-7) and upcoming 800G (ConnectX-8 in 2025), the ConnectX-9 and Quantum-X1600 switches are slated for 2026 to support 1.6 Tb/s per port Delloro.

* DPU Dominance: The BlueField-3 DPU has become essential for multi-tenant AI clouds, offloading security and networking tasks from the GPU, with the BlueField-4 (800G/1.6T) expected in 2026 Firstpasslab Delloro.

Product & Pricing Analysis

In the B2B market, high-end 400G components are widely available but carry a significant premium:

* Switches: Quantum-2 NDR 400G switches (e.g., QM9700) range from $30,000 to $38,500 per unit Alibaba Alibaba.

* Adapters: ConnectX-7 400G SmartNICs are priced between $800 and $1,300, while the BlueField-3 DPU ranges from $2,100 to $3,200 depending on the series (E-series vs. P-series) Alibaba Alibaba.

Mellanox

Overview

Key Market Insights & Trends

Product & Pricing Analysis

Quantum 2 Infiniband Switch Ndr 400g 64 Ports

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Sources & References