APAC and its Rise as a Data Center Hub

Traditionally, the APAC region has two distinct segments of the data center. One serves regional demand, like Hong Kong and Singapore, and the other mainly serves domestic markets like Tokyo, Shanghai, and Australia

Fremont, CA: As digitalization grips businesses across the world, the APAC region has emerged as one of the fastest developing data center regions globally. A study by Structure research shows that the colocation market for the Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.2 percent from 2018 - 2024. The majority of this demand comes from global cloud providers, social media platforms, media content, and video streaming, e-commerce platforms, and banking.

Traditionally, the APAC region has two distinct segments of the data center. One serves regional demand, like Hong Kong and Singapore, and the other mainly serves domestic markets like Tokyo, Shanghai, and Australia. At the same time, there are several Tier II markets like India and Indonesia with a high population growth rate and low data center capacity.

Singapore as a Gateway to Asia

The majority of multinational organizations looking to set up a base in the APAC region set their sights on either Hong Kong or Singapore, both of which are among the largest data centers in the APAC region. Singapore has experienced a front-row seat to the rapid growth of the APAC data center market in recent years. Despite being a small country stretching over just 278 square miles, the country has nearly 60 data centers with a data center footprint of 357 MW.

These statistics make Singapore a data center haven for organizations. Having a data center in Singapore means secure connectivity to all countries in the region with multiple redundancy options and the lowest latency. The country also has the largest concentration of subsea cables in Asia and offers excellent connectivity to the rest of Asia and the world. These features, combined with its disaster-free location, stable political climate, and pro-business climate, make it an obvious choice for most organizations.

Singapore's most potent competitor for multinationals aiming to establish growth in the APAC region is Hong Kong. The area is traditionally positioned as the gateway to China, as well as the APAC region. The present political relations with China and Singapore’s highly autonomous nature have led to an increase in demand in the region.