Going by market size and segmentation, however, the regional industry is fragmented: report

New data is showing that the colocation market in the APAC region is rapidly growing due to the current surge in data needs as widespread digital transformation rages on.

However, the market remains fragmented, reflected by diverse and dynamic changes in revenue rankings across the region and around the world.

According to a chief analyst, John Dinsdale, Synergy Research Group, which provides quarterly market sizing and segmentation data: “While at first glance the APAC region might appear to share some characteristics with the European market, it is actually very different. APAC is less homogeneous than Europe in terms of regulatory, cultural, economic, business and operational issues. China is an extremely difficult business proposition for non-Chinese data center operators, while both Japan and India are also difficult markets to penetrate. But the fact remains that (APAC) is a high growth region and the amount of focus it is getting from hyperscale operators will help to drive future growth, especially on the wholesale side of the colocation market.”

The diverse nature of the colocation leadership rankings reflects the structure of the APAC market:

  • While it is home to the massive Chinese and Japanese colocation markets—which are bested only by the US in terms of scale—those two countries account for less than 60% of regional revenues.
  • The next biggest country markets in the region are Singapore, Australia, India and Hong Kong, all of which feature in the worldwide Top 10 ranking for colocation.
  • Outside of these top six APAC countries, South Korea is a substantial market that is currently seeing very strong growth. Relative to other regions, APAC is just behind North America in terms of current scale but well ahead of EMEA.

APAC is growing much more rapidly than the other two major regions and its growth is projected to outpace them over the next five years, according to the research group.