Hyperscalers have often partnered with colo providers to meet demand and address their needs. But as they grow ever larger, hyperscalers have turned to building their own data centers.
“Scale is a key determining factor behind the choice to self-build, but other variables have emerged, including the desire for vendor reduction, customization and control of design and access to renewable energy resources,” notes the latest report on the global hyperscale data center self-build landscape from Structure Research, a research and consulting firm focusing on tracking the internet infrastructure market.
In its report, Structure Research estimated that in 2022, the total amount of global hyperscale self-build capacity reached 13,177 megawatts (MW). The world’s four largest hyperscale platforms — AWS, Google Cloud, Meta, and Microsoft Azure — represent around 78% of that capacity.
Geographically, North America has the largest operational self-build capacity, with U.S. hyperscalers accounting for 77% of that capacity. This is followed by the Asia-Pacific region — wherein China accounts for 24% of capacity — EMEA, and Latin America. Unsurprisingly, the dominant hyperscalers in all regions except Latin America remain to be Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, yet Apple, Oracle, and French firm OVH are not far behind.
In China, homegrown companies Alibaba, Huawei, Baidu, Tencent, and Kingsoft Cloud are the leading hyperscalers, but international players such as Amazon and Apple have also worked their way into the country’s standings.
Here are the world’s 12 largest hyperscalers, ranked according to self-build critical power capacity:
1. Google
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 3,024 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 2,905 MW
2. Microsoft
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 2,176 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 3,344 MW
3. Amazon
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 2,480 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 2,533 MW
4. Meta
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 1,790 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 2,595 MW
5. Apple
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 600 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 1,403 MW
6. Alibaba
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 1,350 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 487 MW
7. Huawei
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 494 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 192 MW
8. Baidu
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 608 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 36 MW
9. Tencent
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 487 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 152 MW
10. OVH
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 52 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 6 MW
11. Kingsoft Cloud
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 36 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 0 MW
12. Oracle
- 2022 operational data center capacity: 21 MW
- Future capacity (under development and land banks): 0 MW