A recent report from Synergy Research Group reveals that just twenty state or metro markets account for 62 percent of the world’s current hyperscale data center capacity. Leading the pack is Northern Virginia, followed closely by the Greater Beijing Area. Together, these two regions make up 22 percent of the global hyperscale capacity.
Other significant markets include Dublin in Ireland, Oregon, and Iowa in the United States, with Shanghai rounding out the top five. Of the top 20 markets identified, 13 are located in the US, four in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, and three in Europe.
The report attributes the strong presence of US markets to two main factors. First, nearly 60 percent of the world’s hyperscale operators are headquartered in the United States, including the four largest. Second, the US is responsible for nearly half of global cloud market revenues.
The report suggests that while the US and China will continue to dominate the hyperscale data center landscape, emerging markets in India, Malaysia, and Spain are expected to gain momentum.
John Dinsdale, Chief Analyst at Synergy Research Group, emphasized the complexities involved in choosing data center locations. He explained that a range of factors influences these decisions, including “proximity to customers, availability and cost of real estate, availability and cost of power, networking infrastructure, ease of doing business, local financial incentives, political stability, and minimizing the impact of natural hazards.”
“When you weigh up those factors, it tends to mitigate against some of the world’s biggest economic hubs, like London and New York, while favoring some sparsely populated US states like Oregon, Iowa, and Nebraska,” Dinsdale added. “While the general location decision criteria will remain the same over the coming years, the mix of top markets will change, driven mainly by high growth in emerging markets such as parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.”
Additionally, a separate study by Synergy Research earlier this month found that hyperscalers now account for 41 percent of worldwide data center capacity.
