The APAC data center market size by investment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.31% from 2024 to 2030.
APAC DATA CENTER MARKET TRENDS
Introduction of HVO Fuel for Generators
- The data centers are facing increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and operate sustainably. Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) has emerged as a viable low-carbon alternative to diesel fuel for backup generators in the APAC data center market. HVO is a type of renewable diesel produced by hydrotreating waste vegetable oils and animal fats, making it a drop-in replacement for conventional fossil diesel.
- In July 2024, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres announced that it had become the first data center operator in Singapore to use HVO fuel in generators in all facilities across Singapore, with the initial deployment of around 50,000 liters.
- In January 2024, GDS Services announced that it had gradually switched diesel fuel generators to HVO fuel generators and hydrogen fuel cells for data center power backup. It also announced that it plans to switch all facilities to renewable energy.
Adoption of Artificial Intelligence
- The adoption of AI is on the rise across countries in the region with the increased trend of automation and smart operations. Governments across several countries have launched several artificial strategies. For instance, the government of Hong Kong plans to use AI for disaster and energy use monitoring.
- Several data center operators have started developing AI-ready data centers in the region to accommodate AI workloads being rapidly generated by customers of different industry sectors. For instance, in September 2024, Blackstone and ESR planned to expand their footprints in Japan, and it has developed an AI-based data center in Japan.
- Although Australia has already implemented some protective measures for AI, and the global response to AI is still in its nascent stages, it is not the only one considering whether additional regulations and governance systems are necessary to manage emerging risks. In March 2024, NEXTDC announced its plans to be involved in the development of its S6 data center facility in Sydney, which will be designed exclusively for AI Factories and sovereign AI.
SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS
- In terms of segmentation in the APAC data center market, IT infrastructure leads with a substantial share of approximately 74.4% in 2024. The remaining 25.6% is contributed collectively by support infrastructure, which includes electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, and general construction.
- There is currently a strong trend towards procuring sustainable and efficient infrastructure in data centers. Some innovative technologies being adopted in this sector include sodium-ion and nickel-zinc batteries for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, fuel cells, and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel for generators, as well as liquid immersion and direct-to-chip cooling technologies.
- Servers are available in various types and configurations. They are classified by form factors into rack, blade, and tower categories. In the APAC data center market, the most common servers are rack and blade servers from vendors such as Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Dell Technologies, IBM, Lenovo, and NetApp.
Segmentation by Facility Type
- Hyperscale Data Centers
- Colocation Data Centers
- Enterprise Data Centers
Segmentation by Infrastructure
- IT Infrastructure
- Electrical Infrastructure
- Mechanical Infrastructure
- General Construction
Segmentation by IT Infrastructure
- Server Infrastructure
- Storage Infrastructure
- Network Infrastructure
Segmentation by Electrical Infrastructure
- UPS Systems
- Generators
- Transfer Switches & Switchgear
- Power Distribution Units
- Other Electrical Infrastructure
Segmentation by Mechanical Infrastructure
- Cooling Systems
- Racks
- Other Mechanical Infrastructure
Segmentation by Cooling Systems
- CRAC & CRAH Units
- Chiller Units
- Cooling Towers, Condensers, and Dry Coolers
- Other Cooling Units
Segmentation by Cooling Techniques
Segmentation by General Construction
- Core & Shell Development
- Installation & Commissioning Services
- Engineering & Building Design
- Physical Security
- Fire Detection & Suppression
- DCIM
Segmentation by Tier Standard
- Tier I & II
- Tier III
- Tier IV
APAC DATA CENTER MARKET GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS
- Cumulatively, data center operators in APAC are expected to add over 31.4 GW of installed power capacity between 2025 and 2030. China is likely to lead the market by contributing more than 18.2 GW of this capacity, followed by Malaysia with over 3 GW and India with over 2.4 GW of installed power capacity. Taiwan is expected to add around 276 MW, making it the smallest contributor to this overall growth.
- China at present dominates the APAC data center market, followed by Australia, Japan, and India. It accounts for approximately 49% of the overall data center investments in the area, excluding IT infrastructure, which highlights its stronghold in the sector. The country witnesses billions in investments from several operators.
- Southeast Asia emerges as a key destination for data centers, with countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand experiencing increased investments. In 2024, the Southeast Asia data center market contributed around 20.7% of the total investments in APAC, excluding IT infrastructure.
- The top data center destinations in APAC include Shanghai, Beijing in China, Mumbai and Chennai in India, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, Seoul in South Korea, Johor and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Batam and Jakarta in Indonesia, and Bangkok in Thailand.
- The cost per MW for developing data center facilities is the highest in Japan, ranging between $14 million and $15 million per MW. Singapore follows closely, with costs ranging from $13 million to $14 million per MW. In contrast, the development costs are significantly lower in India and China, where they range from $6 million to $7 million per MW and $5.5 million to $6.5 million per MW, respectively.
- APAC
- China
- Hong Kong
- Australia
- New Zealand
- India
- Japan
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Rest of APAC
- Southeast Asia
- Singapore
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Vietnam
- Other Southeast Asian Countries
VENDOR LANDSCAPE
- The APAC data center market has the presence of construction contractors such as AECOM, Arup, Aurecon Group, CSF Advisers, DSCO Group, Gammon Construction, Larsen & Toubro, NTT Facilities, PM Group, and Studio One Design.
- The APAC data center market has a presence of several other prominent colocation vendors, such as AirTrunk, BDx Data Centers, CDC Data Centres, China Unicom, China Mobile, China Telecom, Chindata Group, Digital Realty, Equinix, GDS Services, Keppel Data Centres, NTT DATA, NEXTDC, Princeton Digital Group (PDG), and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres and others.
- The APAC data center market is also witnessing development by hyperscale operators such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, and Meta (Facebook) who are involved in the development of self-built hyperscale data center facilities across the APAC region.
- New entrants in the APAC data center market include DataGrid, Digital Halo, Edgnex Data Centres by DAMAC, Empyrion Digital, Epoch Digital, Evolution Data Centres, FutureData, Ada Infrastructure, GreenSquareDC, Gaw Capital, Infracrowd Capital, K2 Data Centres, Megawide Construction Corporation, Open DC, Regal Orion, SC Zeus Data Centers, SEAX Global, Trifalga, Yondr and several others.
IT Infrastructure Providers
- Arista Networks
- Atos
- Broadcom
- Cisco Systems
- Dell Technologies
- Extreme Networks
- Fujitsu
- Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
- Hitachi Vantara
- Huawei Technologies
- IBM
- Inspur
- Intel
- Lenovo
- Micron Technology
- NEC
- NetApp
- Oracle
- Pure Storage
- Quanta Cloud Technology
- QNAP Systems
- Quantum
- Seagate Technology
- Super Micro Computer
- Toshiba
- Western Digital
- Wiwynn
Prominent Construction Contractors
- AECOM
- Arup
- Aurecon Group
- CSF Advisers
- DSCO Group
- Gammon Construction
- Larsen & Toubro (L&T)
- NTT Facilities
- PM Group
- Studio One Design
Other Prominent Construction Contractors
- AWP Architects
- BYME Engineering
- Chung Hing Engineers Group
- Corgan
- CTCI
- DPR Construction
- Exyte (M+W Group)
- Fortis Construction
- Hutchinson Builders
- ISG
- Kienta Engineering Construction
- Linesight
- LSK Engineering
- Nakano Corporation
- Obayashi Corporation
- Powerware Systems
- Red Engineering
- Rider Levett Bucknall
- Sato Kogyo
- Sterling and Wilson
- Turner & Townsend
Prominent Support Infrastructure Vendors
- ABB
- Caterpillar
- Cummins
- Eaton
- Rittal
- Schneider Electric
- STULZ
- Vertiv
Other Prominent Support Infrastructure Vendors
- Airedale By Modine
- Alfa Laval
- Canovate
- Cyber Power Systems
- Delta Electronics
- EAE
- Envicool
- Fuji Electric
- Green Revolution Cooling (GRC)
- HITEC Power Protection
- Legrand
- Mitsubishi Electric
- Narada
- Piller Power Systems
- Rolls-Royce
- Rehlko (Kohler)
- Siemens
- Socomec
- Trane
Prominent Data Center Investors
- Alibaba Group
- AirTrunk
- Amazon Web Services
- BDx Data Centers
- CDC Data Centres
- China Unicom
- China Mobile
- China Telecom
- Chindata Group
- Digital Realty
- Equinix
- GDS Services
- Google
- Keppel Data Centres
- Microsoft
- NTT DATA
- NEXTDC
- Princeton Digital Group
- ST Telemedia Global Data Centres
Other Prominent Data Center Investors
- AdaniConneX
- AIMS Data Centre
- AT TOKYO
- Beijing Sinnet Technology
- CapitaLand
- Chayora
- Chief Telecom
- Chunghwa Telecom
- CMC Telecom
- Colt Data Centre Services
- CtrlS Datacenters
- DCI Data Centers
- Digital Edge DC
- DITO Telecommunity
- Dr. Peng's Telecom & Media Group
- EdgeConneX
- Empyrion Digital
- ePLDT
- ESR
- Etix Everywhere
- FPT Telecom
- Fujitsu
- Global Switch
- Goodman
- Haoyun Changsheng
- Huawei Technologies
- Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ)
- Iron Mountain
- iTech Towers Data Centre Services
- KT Corp
- LG Uplus
- Macquarie Data Centres
- Mapletree Investments
- Meta
- Nxtra by Airtel
- OneAsia Network
- Pure Data Centres Group
- Shanghai Atrium (AtHub)
- Sify Technologies
- Singtel
- STACK Infrastructure
- Techno Electric & Engineering Company
- Telehouse
- Telkom Indonesia
- Tenglong Holding Group
- Vantage Data Centers
- Viettel IDC
- VNET
- Yotta Infrastructure Solutions
- YTL Data Center
New Entrants
- Ada Infrastructure
- BRIGHT RAY
- BW Digital
- CloudHQ
- CyrusOne
- DataGrid
- Digital Halo
- Doma Infrastructure Group
- Epoch Digital
- Edgnex Data Centres by DAMAC
- Evolution Data Centres
- FutureData
- GreenSquareDC
- Gaw Capital
- Infracrowd Capital
- K2 Data Centres
- Megawide Construction Corporation
- Open DC
- Regal Orion
- SC Zeus Data Centers
- SEAX Global
- Trifalga
- TPG Angelo Gordon
- YCO Cloud
- Yondr
KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:
1. How big is the APAC data center market?
2. What is the growth rate of the APAC data center market?
3. What is the estimated market size in terms of area in the APAC data center market by 2030?
4. How many MW of power capacity is expected to reach the APAC data center market by 2030?
5. What are the key trends in the APAC data center market?