The annual Global Data Center Market Comparison report from Cushman & Wakefield has recognised Japanese markets as front-runners in both the Established and Emerging categories, outshining other Asia Pacific markets. Tokyo secured the third position worldwide in the Established markets category, following Virginia and Atlanta. Meanwhile, Mumbai and Sydney featured prominently, ranking seventh and ninth, respectively. Osaka achieved fourth place in the emerging markets category, with other Asia Pacific cities, Hyderabad and Bangkok, ranking eighth and tenth, respectively.
In a surprising turn of events, despite remaining in the Asia Pacific Top 10 Established markets, Singapore and Hong Kong were nudged out of the global ranking due to limitations on their land supply. Nearby cities in Malaysia (Johor) and Indonesia (Batam) have thrived in their place.
Furthermore, Mumbai, Tokyo, and Jakarta emerged as rapidly developing markets due to flourishing absorption, development pipelines and vacancies. In the emerging markets category, Osaka, Chennai, and Hyderabad gained traction due to high site competition in neighbouring hotspots such as Tokyo and Mumbai.
According to the report, all three regions, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific, are projected to witness a growth pattern where existing capacity will more than double over time. The Asia Pacific region has an operational capacity measure of 10.6 GW, with an additional development pipeline of 13.3 GW anticipated to actualise in the next five to seven years. Hyperscale operators play a pivotal role in this expansion, usually making their initial entry into tertiary markets and simultaneously accelerating momentum for self-performing hyperscale assets.
Vivek Dahiya, Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield and Head of the Asia Pacific Data Centre Advisory Team, commented on the findings. He said, "Hyperscale activity has continued to add significant capacity to pipelines across markets like Mumbai, Tokyo, Sydney and Jakarta. As with other regions, we are also seeing growing interest in smaller markets. Emerging markets, including Osaka, Hyderabad, Johor, and Bangkok in particular, are seeing growth. At a country level, Singapore is on track to join mainland China, Japan, Australia and India as markets with over 1GW in operational capacity in 2024," said Dahiya.
The Global Data Center Market Comparison report, currently in its fifth year, has been constructed with a refined methodology, keeping in mind the speedy alterations in the factors impacting the data centre market. Elements such as power accessibility, land availability, and market size are considered high-weight factors. Meanwhile, details like the development pipeline, land price, power cost, and cloud availability/operator presence hold the status of mid-weight factors. After incorporating six new entrants, Auckland, Batam, Brisbane, Perth, Pune and Taipei, a total of thirty Asia Pacific markets were analysed in the 2024 report.