The Rise of Data Center Market in Asia Pacific Region

The Rise of Data Center Market in Asia Pacific Region

This blog post provides an overview of the 11 key Data Centre markets in the Asia Pacific region, based on recent research completed in the Cloud & Data Centre Markets Asia Pacific report from 2021 to 2025 - published in late 2020.

Key Trends

The Chinese market remains the second largest Data Centre market in the world after the US and is also influencing the Hong Kong market with the creation of the GBA (Greater Bay Area). But there is a range of new Data Centre investments also being made in Australia, Japan, and South Korea, with Australia accounting for a tenth of Data Centre space as of the start of 2021. A breakdown of Data Centre space across the Asia Pacific region is shown in the Pie Chart in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1 – A pie chart showing the forecast breakdown of Data Centre raised floor space in m2 by the 11 Country Markets as a percentage as of the beginning of 2021 (Source: DCP)

Data Centre raised floor space in meter square

After China, the largest Data Centre markets in Asia include Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong all of a similar size (with Data Centre raised floor space typically of 300,000 m2 to 400,000 m2 in total).

Singapore has become the central hub location for companies investing in Southeast Asia - including both digital companies and Data Centre Providers(DCP)

The smaller Data Centre markets are poised for higher growth rates - with South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam & Taiwan forecast to have the highest increase – with South Korea outstripping the other markets.

Below is the list of key Asia Pacific markets in alphabetical order:

Australia

Australia has seen significant growth in new Data Centre capacity and investment and has an 11 percent share of the Asia Pacific market. It has benefitted from the availability of land for development and has grown rapidly. In a survey of the Asia Pacific region by DCP Australia is identified as being a key region for development with Digital Realty announcing the development of two new large Hyperscale Data Centre facilities in the Sydney area.

  • The Australian Data Centre market has undergone consolidation with Equinix acquiring Metronode, with 10 facilities in Australia, and MacQuarie also acquiring the majority of AirTrunk.

  • New Data Centre space is being added by AirTrunk, NEXTDC, CDC (Canberra Data Centres) & Digital Realty in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne & Perth.

  • Australia has cloud availability zones provided by all of the major Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) including Google Cloud Platform, AWS, IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure Cloud & Oracle Cloud.

  • The announcement of the build-out of two Digital Realty facilities in the Sydney area with up to 250 MW of IT power underlines the importance in Sydney as a new digital, content & cloud hub in the Asia Pacific region.  

China

Mainland China has become the second-largest Data Centre market in the world (behind the USA) and accounts for 43 percent of the Asia Pacific Data Centre market by space as of the beginning of 2021.

  • China continues to see significant Data Centre growth, from Carrier Neutral Data Centre Providers including GDS Holdings, Centrin, Chindata, and 21vianet Group. Data Centres have been targeted by the Government as a strategic resource to enable big data, AI, IoT, mobile & cloud developments.

  • All CSPs are active in China, with the cloud market leader being Alibaba Cloud with almost half of the market and non-Chinese CSPs such as Microsoft and AWS partnering with a local Chinese provider.

  • The Chinese market is forecast by DCP to grow by over 500,000 m2 from 2021 to 2025, equivalent to almost 8 percent per annum over the period.   

Hong Kong

Hong Kong accounts for 8 percent of the Asia Pacific Data Centre market. Hong Kong will see new developments to be launched by AirTouch, Global Switch, i-advantage, GDS Holdings Ltd & Digital Realty. But a shortage of land suitable for Data Centre use is a constraint on future growth. New space is being developed near the Chinese border as Hong Kong becomes more integrated into nearby China & Macau as part of the GBA (Greater Bay Area).          

  • Hong Kong has received more investment from Data Centre Providers opening new facilities including i-advantage, Equinix, AirTrunk, CITC Telecom, Digital Realty & Global Switch.

  • Most CSPs have recently established cloud availability zones in Hong Kong (with the exception of Microsoft Azure Cloud & Oracle Cloud).

  • Chinese investment in Hong Kong is set to increase from CITIC Telecom and GDS Holdings. Additionally, there is a trend to develop facilities close to the Chinese border to take advantage of the CSPs based in the Shenzhen area, with the proposed investment by Singapore-based Mapletree in a new Data Centre facility at Fanling allowing easy connectivity into the Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong.  

Indonesia

Indonesia accounts for 3 percent of the Asia Pacific Data Centre market. Despite the population size of Indonesia, with over 270 million people as of 2020, Indonesia remains small in third-party Data Centre terms of raised floor space as of the beginning of 2021. 

  • After a period of relative stagnation Indonesia has seen new investment by Keppel Data Centers (as a joint venture with Salim Group), PDG (an investor in XL Axiata Data Centers), Telkomsigma, SpaceDC (owned by the Singaporean wealth fund GIC) & a joint venture between Salim Group & Keppel Group called IndoKeppel DC-1.

  • CSPs are starting to invest in cloud availability zones in Indonesia following Alibaba Cloud including GCP (Google Cloud Platform) and potential investment from AWS (who currently use Singapore as their main Asian cloud hub).

  • The new investment by SpaceDC and PDG will help spur the development of new Hyperscale Data Centre facilities in Indonesia, with an increase in space of 8 percent per annum. 

Japan

Japan accounts for 11 percent of Asia Pacific Data Centre space. Japan remains an established Data Centre market with inward investment by MC Digital Realty, Colt, and Equinix.

  • New Japanese Data Centre expansion is being provided by a number of providers including - MC Digital Realty, Equinix, xScale, and Colt.

  • Nearly all of the large global CSPs have established cloud availability zones in Japan (with the exception of Alibaba Cloud).

  • New campus-style facilities have been built by Colt at Inzai (Inzai-3) with 27 MW of power - 90 percent pre-let at launch - and by MC Digital Realty also at Inzai with plans for a campus with 100 MW of power.    

Malaysia

Malaysia accounts for 4 percent of the Asia Pacific market. The Malaysia Data Centre market has experienced steady growth but remains a much smaller market than neighboring Singapore.

  • Malaysia is seeing Data Centre expansion by AIMS (at Cyberjaya) with expansion by NTT Com (Global Data Centers) constructing a 5th Data Centre facility at Cyberjaya which was launched in February 2021 with up to 10,000 m2 of space.

  • The only CSP with a cloud availability zone in Malaysia is Alibaba Cloud, with access to the cloud in Malaysia usually available via Singapore.

  • The AIMS Data Centre at Cyberjaya is to have 20,000 m2 of space when fully completed with up to 60 MW of power, one of the largest Data Centre facilities in Malaysia.

Singapore

Singapore accounts for 10 percent of Data Centre space in the Asia Pacific region. Singapore has established itself as the major Data Centre hub in the ASEAN Region.

  • Singapore remains a hub site for MNCs in the Asia Pacific region and continues to attract new Data Centre investment from ST Telemedia, Global Switch, Keppel Data Centres & Equinix.

  • All of the CSPs have a presence in Singapore, with Google, Facebook, and Microsoft investing in their own Data Centre facilities.

  • New facilities continue to be launched in Singapore, with Digital Realty (Loyang 2) being launched from April 2021, with up to 50 MW of power when completed. 

South Korea

South Korea accounts for 4 percent of Data Centre space in the Asia Pacific region. South Korea is expanding with inward foreign investment.

  • South Korea has a relatively small Data Centre market when compared with Japan, Singapore & Hong Kong, with the most investment made by telecom providers but is now attracting new investment from Digital Realty & Equinix in the Seoul area. In November 2020 kt opened a new 48,000 m2 Data Centre in Seoul.

  • Recent investment in South Korea has been made by Singapore-based Digital Edge - with the acquisition of Data Centres from Sejong Telecom in Seoul & Busan and a new joint venture founded by UK investment firm Actis Capital & South Korean conglomerate GS E&C to build a new Data Centre facility in Seoul with 21 MW of power at a cost of USD $315 million. In January 2021 STT GDC agreed on a joint venture with Hyosung Heavy Industries to open a Data Centre in Seoul.

  • DCP forecast that South Korea is to have 15 percent annual growth in space for the period to the beginning of 2025. All of the CSPs (except for Alibaba Cloud) have cloud availability zones located in South Korea.

Taiwan

Taiwan accounts for 2 percent of third-party Data Centre space in the Asia Pacific Region and remains one of the smallest markets dominated by Telecoms Provider Data Centre capacity.

  • Taiwan has Data Centre capacity from mainly local Data Centre Providers, with the largest being IT services company Chief Telecom, and has not attracted the same inward investment as other Asia Pacific Region markets.

  • DCP forecasts that Taiwanese Data Centre space will increase by an average of almost 8 percent per annum. Chief Telecom is to open a 4th Data Centre facility near Taipei in 2023. 

  • The only global CSP with an availability zone in Taiwan is GCP (Google Cloud Platform), with Google constructing two large Data Centres in Taiwan (as well as in Singapore).

Thailand

Thailand accounts for 2 percent of third-party Data Centre space in the Asia Pacific Region.

  • Thailand is only seeing moderate Data Centre investment, with past investment from CAT Telecom & the SuperNAP joint venture – with a large new hyperscale facility planned as a joint venture between STT GDC & FPT.

  • There is a new Data Centre investment being made by NTT Ltd & a joint venture between STT GDC & FPT, and a joint venture between kt & Jasmine Group of Thailand.   

  • CSPs do not have a direct presence in Thailand, with cloud availability typically provided via Singapore.

Vietnam

Vietnam accounts for 2 percent of Data Centre space in the Asia Pacific Region.

  • The Vietnamese Data Centre market is dominated by Telecoms Providers including Viettel Telecom, FPT Telecom, and VNPT.

  • Some new facilities are being provided as joint ventures with foreign partners including Japanese Telecoms providers KDDI (Telehouse) and NTT, but there are no direct inward investments.

  • There is no global CSP cloud zone presence present in Vietnam, but all telecom providers resell cloud products from Google, AWS, and Microsoft (from their cloud presence in Singapore).

Forecast overall Asia Pacific FData Centre growth

The report forecasts the increase in Asia Pacific Data Centre space – shown by CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) by Country market - shown in the chart in Figure 2 below: 

Figure 2 – A chart showing the Data Centre Asia Pacific space growth rates in CAGR per annum from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of 2024

Asia Pacific Data Centre CAGR 2021-2024

 
The Cloud and Data Centre Markets in the Asia Pacific Region

The report presents forecasts and detailed coverage to the Asia Pacific Region survey - includes Forecasts for the public cloud markets across the eleven countries (by annual revenues in millions of USD from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of 2025)

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Conclusions & the Key Data Centre Trends in the Asia Pacific Region

Data Centre Providers in the Asia Pacific Region are among the fastest-growing in the world – In China the quoted Data Centre Providers 21vianet Group & GDS Holdings have reported annual revenue growth rates of 27.4 percent and 38.4 percent year on year for Q4 2020. By contrast, US quoted Data Centre Provider REITs Digital Realty & Equinix reported revenue growth rates of 8 percent and 35 percent (boosted by the acquisition of Interxion) year on year for the same period.

The Asia Pacific Region is receiving more inward Data Centre investment – The US REITs Digital Realty & Equinix have both made large investments in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong & Singapore – and both companies are in the process of opening a Data Centre facility in Seoul (South Korea). Equinix has regularly bolstered its market position by acquiring local Data Centre Providers, in Australia (Metronode) and Japan (bit isle). For example, Digital Realty is in the process of opening new hyperscale data center facilities in Australia, Japan (Osaka & Tokyo), Hong Kong, Singapore & South Korea.

South Korea is forecast to grow the most of the 11 countries profiled – A flood of new investment in Data Centre capacity is taking place in South Korea. Investment in new Data Centre capacity from Actis Capital, Digital Edge, Digital Realty, Equinix & STT GDC is to boost the South Korean Data Centre space growth rate to over 15 percent per annum to 2025 as the country starts to catch up with Japan in terms of space availability. 

China remains the second-largest Data Centre market in the world - and is the fastest-growing Data Centre market of its size worldwide. Chinese Data Centre Providers 21vianet Group and GDS Holdings both report annual revenue growth in excess of 25 percent, although other Data Centre Providers are reporting revenue growth that is less than the Chinese market, with Australian Data Centre Provider NEXTDC reporting 13 percent growth for the year to the end of H1 2020.

The public CSP market in the Asia Pacific region is also set to drive growth for Data Centres – DCP forecasts that public cloud revenue in the region is set in increase by 4 times more than Data Centre revenue over the 4 year period to the beginning of 2025. But the continued growth in cloud usage will also result in more Data Centre investment as many third-party Data Centre facilities are being used as cloud or content hubs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and Japan.

A key determinant of Data Centre growth in the Asia Pacific Region is the ease of inward investment – With the exception of China, the Countries that have seen investment by international Data Centre companies or investors (including Singapore, Hong Kong & now South Korea) have seen the most build-out of new Data Centre capacity in the Asia Pacific Region.

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