Data Center Market in China and Hong Kong - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

China and Hong Kong data center market size to reach USD 27 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 2% during the forecast period. The data center market in China & Hong Kong is likely to be driven by the increase in the investment in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and quantum computing. The market for artificial intelligence (AI) will cross $10 billion in 2025. In 2018, AI investments in China were around $8 billion, which is likely to increase sharply after the recovery of the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. China is among the leader in blockchain technology. The government announced the creation of a Blockchain Network (BCN) across 100 cities, which will add developers to build an application without investing in the blockchain framework. Also, the promotion of blockchain to make a powerful technology for online payments is driving the market. Several organizations and government agencies in China currently use blockchain technology, which is expected to grow significantly over the next few years.

SNIPPETS

• In 2019, China and the Hong Kong data center market witnessed investments in over 35 data center projects across the region.
• China and Hong Kong are the second-largest data center markets in the world, contributing to around 12% of the power capacity added globally.
• Hyperscale data center campus development and edge data center deployment will contribute to significant investments during 2020-2025 across China and Hong Kong.

CHINA AND HONG KONG DATA CENTER MARKET SEGMENTATION

This research report includes a detailed segmentation by

• IT Infrastructure
• Electrical Infrastructure
• Mechanical Infrastructure
• General Construction
• Tier Standards

INSIGHTS BY IT INFRASTRUCTURE 

The server market in China and Hong Kong will witness significant growth in the next few years due to investments from major cloud service providers. Apple, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and China Telecom are the major cloud service providers operators investing in the region.

In the last few years, the storage market in China and Hong Kong has evolved from traditional tape storage drives to HDDs and is continuously evolving from HDDs to flash storage (NVMe SSDs) and hybrid storage. SSDs are replacing the use of HDDs in the market because of the high reliability and fast access time, which accelerate the performance of applications.

The network devices market is rapidly growing with the demand for high-speed internet connection. The implementation of the 5G network will boost the digital economy of the region and lead to the need for high bandwidth networking infrastructure after 2020. In China and Hong Kong, the trend of using mobile devices and remotely accessing the business application is growing. Businesses are now shifting their work to cloud-based infrastructure.

INSIGHTS BY ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

Mega data center projects in China are designed to be of Tier III and Tier IV standards, with the increased deployment of 2N redundant UPS systems. The construction of data centers of over 20 MW power capacity will increase the demand for high-capacity infrastructure over 1 MW. Most facilities support rack power density of 5−10 kW; however, it is expected that new facilities will support a capacity of 20 kW during the forecast period.

In China and Hong Kong, the majority of data center operators are deploying UPS systems in N+N with flexible design supporting up 2N+1 redundant UPS systems. The increase in the development of hyperscale facilities will increase the UPS installation of over 1 MW capacity. Also, hyperscale operators will be involved in adopting in-rack/in-row UPS systems supporting capacity of less than 100 kVA.

The adoption of Diesel Rotary Uninterruptible Power Supply (DRUPS) systems is low than stand-alone diesel generators in the Hong Kong market. Most facilities in Hong Kong adopt medium to low-voltage switchgear. Datacenter deployments will include the installation of 2N redundant rack PDUs. The adoption of switched PDUs will grow among colocation and hyperscale providers. Monitored and metered/switched PDUs will experience strong adoption in the Hong Kong data center market. Most data centers support rack power density between 5 and 10 kW; however, it is expected that new facilities will support the capacity of 20 kW during the forecast period.

INSIGHTS BY MECHANICAL INFRASTRUCTURE  

In China, a majority of data centers offer colocation services to adopt air as well as water-based cooling techniques. Some facilities are built to support free cooling techniques. Several service providers use energy-efficient free cooling techniques with redundant units to keep the data center operational. The adoption of CRAC units and chillers will continue to grow to cool the facility in the China data center market.

In Hong Kong, several data centers adopt a combination of air and water-based cooling techniques to cool down the facility.  With facilities now being built to handle more than 10 MW of IT load, the use of multiple CRAC and CRAH units across data halls and containment designs is growing. The market will continue to grow among facilities that use DX or chilled-water cooling solutions. The adoption of 42U, 45U, 47U, and 48U rack units will increase among data center investors in the region during the forecast period. A leading vendor in Hong Kong data has equipped its facilities with 42U rack units with a flexible design to adopt larger rack units. The adoption of CRAC units and chillers will continue to grow to cool the facility in Hong Kong.

INSIGHTS BY GENERAL CONSTRUCTION

China is a leader in greenfield data center construction. Hyperscale developments are to increase the demand for engineering services in China. The construction cost of facilities can range from $50 to $80 per square, which is lower than in Hong Kong, which is around $200 per square feet. In terms of physical security, most service providers prefer four layers of safety, with a few engaged in the implementation of five-layer ones due to the increasing demand for colocation services. CCTV surveillance, access control, anti-tailing doors, metal detectors, and X-ray machines are the major security measures installed in data centers. Hong Kong is likely to have high brownfield deployments due to the space shortage. Innovations in connected security products are providing a boost for market growth. Data center operators prefer the analytics of video surveillance recording. Modern facilities are also protected from EMP and lightning during natural disasters. In the coming years, the market will witness the increased use of robot monitoring systems in the facility, with sensor and video surveillance.

INSIGHTS BY TIER STANDARDS

Most new data centers are designed to be of Tier III standards with a minimum of N+1 redundancy. They can be reconfigured with up to 2N+1 redundancy as the need arises, with the incorporation of flexible designs. Tier IV facilities are equipped with at least 2N+1 redundancy in every infrastructure that makes the facility fault-tolerant, with UPS systems and PDUs having 2N+2 redundancy. These facilities generate more revenue for the market, with focused investment on highly efficient cooling systems. A majority of facilities developed in China and Hong Kong follow the Uptime Institute guidelines in design, construction, and operational sustainability. Expertise in designing and building facilities based on the guideline’s providers by the above-mentioned regulatory body would be beneficial for local contractors.

INSIGHTS BY GEOGRAPHY

China is the prominent market for data center operations in the APAC region. The continuous booming of internet users, the growth in gaming and e-commerce industries, and investments in the digitalization of enterprises increase the demand for data centers. Tier I cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou are the major data center markets in the country. In China, the investment is led by internet, cloud, colocation, and telecommunication service providers such as Alibaba, China Unicom, Shanghai Athub, ChinData, Qnet, China Telecom, Chayora, GDS Services, ChinaCache, Dr.Peng Group, Wangsu Technology, Tencent, Sinnet Technology, 21Vianet, and China Mobile. The data center market in China is increasing YOY aided by the strong growth in the advantage of technological adoption across the country and the increase in the number of submarine cable deployments connecting China. There is a high demand for cryptocurrency and blockchain data centers in China, boosting the development of facilities with high-performance computing infrastructure.

INSIGHTS BY VENDORS

The data center construction market in China and Hong Kong is continuing to grow in terms of greenfield and brownfield facility construction. The market is still witnessing increased growth in the number of data centers, with high adoption of efficient and modular infrastructure solutions. The market has a strong presence of vendors across all three categories, such as electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, and general construction.

The China and Hong Kong data center market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry analysis with revenue and forecast insights for the following segments:

By IT Infrastructure  

• Servers
• Storage
• Network

By Electrical Infrastructure  

• UPS Systems
• Generators
• Transfer Switches & Switchgears
• PDUs
• Other Electrical Infrastructure

By Mechanical Infrastructure

• Cooling Systems
  • CRAC & CRAH Units
  • Chiller Units
  • Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers
  • Economizers & Evaporative Coolers
  • Other Units
• Racks
• Other Mechanical Infrastructure

By General Construction 

• Building Development
• Installation & Commissioning Services
• Building Designs
• Physical Security
• DCIM

By Tier Standard

• Tier I & Tier II
• Tier III
• Tier IV

By Geography

• China
• Hong Kong