Nvidia just claimed the top spot in data center Ethernet switching revenue for the first time. In Q2 2025, Nvidia pulled in $2.3 billion in data center Ethernet switch revenue, a 647% year-over-year increase that gave it a 25.9% market share. That’s enough to leapfrog Arista Networks and Cisco, two companies that have owned this space for years.
From chip company to networking giant
The story here starts in April 2020, when Nvidia acquired Mellanox Technologies for $6.9 billion. Mellanox gave Nvidia the foundation for what eventually became the Spectrum-X Ethernet platform. Spectrum-X combines Ethernet switches with Data Processing Units, or DPUs, to create high-performance networking fabrics specifically optimized for AI workloads.
The growth trajectory has been steep. In Q1 2025, Nvidia generated approximately $1.46 billion in data center Ethernet switch revenue, representing an 8.6x year-over-year increase. By Q2 2025, that figure jumped to $2.3 billion. As of Q1 2026, Nvidia maintained its position at the top of the leaderboard in a market that grew 39.8% year-over-year to reach $15.4 billion.
The AI infrastructure arms race is reshaping the market
