Google (GOOG) invested $186 million on its data centers in the third quarter of 2009, ending a string of five consectuive quarters in which the company slashed its capital spending. But Google’s infrastructure costs remained just a fraction of what they were during its 2007 building boom, when it announced four new data centers.
The second quarter capital expenditure (CapEx) total was up slightly from $139 million in the second quarter but tically lower than the company spent during the same period in 2006 ($492 million), 2007 ($453 million) and 2008 ($452 million). Here’s a look at the recent trend:
- 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
- 2Q 2009: $139 million
- 3Q 2009: $186 million
|
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
Lenoir, North Carolina [1];
Goose Creek, South Carolina [2];
Pryor, Oklahoma [3]and
Council Bluffs, Iowa [4].
After the economic meltdown gripped Wall Street last fall, Google throttled back spending even further, opting to
delay construction [5] of its data center in Pryor. Google continues to build in other markets. In March Google confirmed plans to build a major data center at a former
paper mill in Finland [6], having paid $51 million in February to purchase the property.
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.
Article printed from Data Center Knowledge: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com
URL to article: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/10/19/google-capex-spending-rebounds-slightly/
URLs in this post:
[1] Lenoir, North Carolina: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/Jan/19/google_picks_nc_for_600m_data_center.html
[2] Goose Creek, South Carolina: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/Apr/04/google_announces_600m_so_car_project.html
[3] Pryor, Oklahoma : http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/May/02/google_confirms_600m_oklahoma_project.html
[4] Council Bluffs, Iowa: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/06/19/google-confirms-data-center-in-council-buffs-iowa/
[5] delay construction: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/10/29/google-will-delay-oklahoma-data-center/
[6] paper mill in Finland: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/03/04/google-confirms-data-center-in-finland/
[7] Rich Miller: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/author/richm/
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