Home
Google
Google CapEx Continues To Trend Lower

Google CapEx Continues To Trend Lower

By: Rich Miller
April 16th, 2009
Tweet

Google (GOOG) spent $263 million on its infrastructure in the first three months of 2008, the lowest quarterly total since it began operating its own data centers, as it continued in cash conservation mode. The first quarter capital expenditure (CapEx) total, which was included in today’s earnings release, was less than a third of the $842 million Google spent on its data centers in the same quarter in 2008. Here’s a look at the recent trend:

google-capex-1q2009

1Q 2006: $345 million
2Q 2006: $699 million
3Q 2006: $492 million
4Q 2006: $367 million
1Q 2007: $597 million
2Q 2007: $575 million
3Q 2007: $553 million

4Q 2007: $678 million
1Q 2008: $842 million
2Q 2008: $698 million
3Q 2008: $452 million
4Q 2008:$368 million
1Q 2009: $263 million

This was the fourth consecutive quarter in which Google’s infrastructure spending has declined. The capex “breather” has been enabled by the company’s building boom in 2007-08, during which it announced major data center construction projects in four U.S. markets.

That investment provided Google with plenty of data center capacity. After the economic meltdown gripped Wall Street last fall, Google throttled back spending even further, opting to delay constructionof its data center in Pryor, Oklahoma. Google says it remains committed to the Pryor site and expects to complete the facilty in the next 12 to 18 months.

Google continues to build in other markets. The company is expected to set an opening date for its facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa within the next several months. In March Google confirmed plans to build a major data center at a former paper mill in Finland, having paid $51 million in February to purchase the property.

About Rich Miller

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.