End-user spending on global data center infrastructure is estimated to reach $200 billion in 2021, an increase of 6% from 2020, according to the latest forecast from Gartner. However, there is a 10.3% decline in data center spending in 2020 due to restricted cash flow during the pandemic.
Recovery period statistics
According to Gartner, lockdowns from COVID-19 will prevent more than 60% of planned new facilities construction in 2020. Lockdowns from COVID-19 also affected the data center infrastructure revenue negatively. It is estimated that end-user spending will grow in the single digits starting in 2021 and the data center market is still expected to grow year-over-year through 2024.
Naveen Mishra, senior research director at Gartner, said,
“Gartner expects larger enterprise data centers sites to hit pause temporarily and then resume expansion plans later this year or early next. However, hyperscalers will continue with its global expansion plans due to continued investments in the public cloud. Much of the reduced demand in 2020 is expected to return in 2021 when staff can physically be onsite. For now, all data center infrastructure segments will be subject to cost-containment measures and enterprise buyers are expected to extend life cycles of installed equipment.”
Table 1. Worldwide Data Center Infrastructure End-User Spending (Billions of U.S. Dollars)
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
| End-User Spending ($B) |
210 |
188 |
200 |
| Growth (%) |
0.7 |
-10.3 |
6.2 |
Source: Gartner (October 2020)