Important information middle growth is underway throughout the Asia-Pacific area, with Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan set to dominate the construct out checklist in keeping with a brand new report.
Cushman & Wakefield’s ‘Asia-Pacific Data Center Investment Landscape’ report reveals that Malaysia is positioned to steer development in no less than one measure: population-per-megawatt.
Malaysia is ready to attain an 80% enchancment in its population-per-megawatt ratio by 2030. The nation will drop from over 60,000 individuals per megawatt presently to roughly 14,000 by decade’s finish. Thailand is available in second with a population-per-megawatt ratio set to enhance by 70% over the identical interval. Japan rounds out the highest three at 68%.
A key a part of the persevering with development of knowledge facilities within the area is self-builds by giant hyperscalers. Malaysia has already seen a number of self-build exercise by AWS and Microsoft. Google has additionally not too long ago introduced partnerships within the nation. Thailand had a self-build area of AWS and not too long ago Microsoft introduced investments within the nation.
Whereas the enhancements in Asia-Pacific information facilities are noteworthy, the area remains to be far behind the U.S. Cushman & Wakefield famous in its evaluation that within the U.S. the population-per-megawatt ratio is 30,000 individuals per megawatt. In distinction, the common in Asia-Pacific is 350,000 individuals per megawatt of knowledge middle capability.
It’s Not (Simply) AI Driving Demand
Globally, AI is commonly cited as a main driver for information middle construct outs. That is not essentially the case within the Asia-Pacific area.
“Presently, a lot of the capability is being taken up by cloud providers, OTT, social media, and so forth,” Pritesh Swamy, head of analysis and insights at Cushman & Wakefield’s Asia-Pacific Information Centre Group, informed DCN. “AI remains to be in its early levels and but to see important deployments in Asia-Pacific.”
That stated, he famous that operator sentiments point out that Asia-Pacific is prone to see deployments for inference workloads; nonetheless, the coaching workloads are prone to stay within the U.S.
Malaysia Transforms from Overflow to Major Vacation spot
Malaysia’s information middle build-outs have been aggressive in current months, pushed by quite a few elements.
In late 2024, the federal government of Malaysia authorized Information Middle Planning Pointers (GPP) that make it simpler for firms to construct and function within the nation.
“Malaysia has quite a few key benefits, its location and proximity to Singapore signifies that the undersea cables connecting it to the remainder of the world are accessible,” Roy Illsley, chief analyst at Omdia, informed DCN in 2024.
Hyperscalers have actually taken discover of Malaysia’s positioning. Google has plans to take a position $2 billion into the Malaysian information middle trade . Amazon is investing $6.2 billion in Malaysia, whereas Oracle has dedicated $6.5 billion in funding for information facilities in Malaysia.
This hyperscaler engagement has reworked Malaysia from Singapore’s overflow vacation spot to a main infrastructure hub. The nation now helps each home and regional workloads. The strategic repositioning displays cloud suppliers’ evolving wants. They search better operational management and price optimization in markets the place demand scales past conventional colocation capability.
Twin demand vectors drive capability development. Enterprise necessities from Kuala Lumpur’s monetary and know-how sectors present one supply. Regional AI and cloud providers demand concentrated in Johor’s proximity to Singapore supplies one other. This geographic distribution allows Malaysia to seize cross-border information flows whereas sustaining deal with home market improvement.
Thailand Prompts Following Hyperscaler Commitments
Thailand’s emergence as a knowledge middle vacation spot displays the hyperscaler technique of creating infrastructure in markets with favorable long-term financial trajectories.
The market’s present operational capability of simply 89 MW ranks amongst Asia-Pacific’s lowest. Nevertheless, hyperscaler engagement signifies funding selections are pushed by financial potential slightly than present utilization metrics. The projected consolidation from 800,000 individuals per megawatt to 220,000 represents a 70% enchancment. This might set up Thailand as a major regional hub. AWS has established a devoted presence within the nation. Microsoft has additionally introduced substantial investments.
A current report from JLL recognized Thailand as a fast-growing hub in Southeast Asia.
“Thailand is engaging due to its strategic geographic place, rising information consumption, and supportive authorities insurance policies,” Krit Pimhataivoot, head of capital markets at JLL Thailand, informed DCN earlier this 12 months.
Japan Navigates Bodily Constraints and Excessive Prices
Japan presents a special set of alternatives and challenges for information middle operators.
The nation’s population-per-megawatt enchancment from 94,000 to 30,000 by 2030 leverages Japan’s established worldwide funding status. Nevertheless, the restricted availability of enormous websites with ample energy infrastructure requires artistic approaches to attain scale necessities inside geographic limitations.
In accordance with the report, Japan can also be the costliest nation within the Asia-Pacific area for constructing out information facilities. That’s not slowing improvement as price is not the one think about play.
“Decrease development prices aren’t essentially a magnet for information centre improvement,” the report states. “Japan, regardless of being the costliest market within the area, accounts for 20% of the Asia-Pacific improvement pipeline, 30% of the whole capex required to construct it out – greater than another market.”
