Summary:
- Hyperscale operators now make up 44% of global data center capacity, with 1,189 large hyperscale facilities as of Q1 2025.
- The shift away from enterprise-owned data centers is evident, with a decline from 56% to 34% in the past six years, projected to drop further to 22% by 2030.
- The total volume of data center capacity is expected to grow rapidly, driven by a threefold expansion in hyperscale capacity over the next six years.
Article:
The landscape of data center capacity has seen a significant transformation in recent years, with hyperscale operators taking center stage. According to a report by Synergy Research Group, these operators now account for 44% of global data center capacity, boasting a total of 1,189 large hyperscale facilities by the end of Q1 2025. This shift marks a departure from the traditional enterprise-owned data centers, which have seen their share decrease from 56% to 34% over the past six years, with a projected further decline to 22% by 2030.The rapid growth in hyperscale capacity is expected to be a driving force behind the overall expansion of data center capacity worldwide. More than half of the current hyperscale capacity resides in company-owned facilities, with the remainder in leased colocation sites. Non-hyperscale colocation, on the other hand, currently makes up 22% of total capacity, a share that is expected to gradually decline despite annual growth rates in colocation capacity.
While on-premises enterprise capacity has experienced a modest resurgence due to the demands of generative AI applications and GPU infrastructure, the overall share of on-prem capacity is anticipated to decline by approximately two percentage points annually through the end of the decade. This shift towards hyperscale infrastructure is further underscored by the projection that all regions will witness double-digit annual growth in total data center capacity through 2030, with hyperscale-owned infrastructure expanding by at least 20% per year globally.
John Dinsdale, a chief analyst at Synergy Research Group, highlighted the pivotal role of cloud services, digital technologies, and the surge of AI applications in driving the expansion of data center capacity. Despite regional variations in the distribution of hyperscale infrastructure, the overarching trend points towards a continued growth trajectory for hyperscale operators globally. As the data center landscape evolves, collaborations between hyperscale operators and specialized data center providers are expected to play a crucial role in optimizing speed to market, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance in different regions and countries.
