Saudi Arabia Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2024–2029

MARKET OVERVIEW

The Saudi Arabia data center market size will witness investments of USD 3.18 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 10.13% during the forecast period. Saudi Arabia is the second top data center market in the Middle East region. Some of the data center operators that operate in the country include center3(stc), Mobily, Gulf Data Hub, NourNet, and others.  

The Saudi Arabia data center market is driven by digitalization initiatives, of which Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 is a major game changer in transforming the country's digital landscape. Further, the government and public sector's adoption of a cloud-first strategy will likely boost cloud adoption and the market in the country. Several global cloud companies, such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud, have announced their plans to enter the Saudi Arabia data center market. 

The National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) under the Vision 2030 and the King Salman Renewable Energy Initiative have been initiated to maximize renewable energy and expects to generate over 50% of the energy from renewable energy by 2030. Also, developing Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Free Trade Zones (FTZs), and smart city investments will boost the Saudi Arabia data center market. Further, the capital city of Riyadh is the primary location for data center investments in Saudi Arabia, followed by Jeddah, Dammam, and other cities. Neom is the new up-and-coming smart city that will attract new investments over the forecast period.  

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Saudi Arabia has about 24 operational colocation data centers. Most colocation data centers here are being developed according to Tier III standards. For instance, center3(stc)’s Dammam Data Center is an Uptime-rated Tier III establishment.
• center3 (stc) is among the top and one of the largest data center operators in the Saudi Arabia data center market and has planned to develop data centers with around 125 MW power capacity by 2025-2026.
• Gulf Data Hub is also among the top colocation operators in the country. It is developing a new data center facility in Dammam and has further planned several facilities across Riyadh and Jeddah.
• The Saudi Arabia data center market also witnessed developments in submarine cables and inland connectivity. For instance, 2Africa, owned by China Mobile, Meta, center3 (stc), Orange Business Services, and a few other companies, would be the longest subsea cable that would be operational in 2024, having a length of over 27,950 miles, will connect Saudi Arabia with other countries such as India, the UAE, Spain, Egypt, the UK, Oman, and other countries.
• Significant deployment and adoption of 5G services and the development of smart cities in Saudi Arabia will fuel data traffic and further grow the demand for more data centers in the country. Saudi Call signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese companies- Shanghai Lumaotong Group (LTG) and China Mobile International Limited (CMI)- to develop data center facilities in the country in September 2023.

WHY SHOULD YOU BUY THIS RESEARCH?

• Market size is available regarding investment, area, power capacity, and Saudi Arabia's colocation market revenue.
• An assessment of the data center investment in Saudi Arabia by colocation, hyperscale, and enterprise operators.
• Investments in the area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across cities in the country.
• A detailed study of the existing Saudi Arabia data center market landscape, an in-depth market analysis, and insightful predictions about market size during the forecast period.
• Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in Saudi Arabia
  • Facilities Covered (Existing): 24
  • Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 37
  • Coverage: 8 Cities
  • Existing vs. Upcoming (Area)
  • Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)
• Data Center Colocation Market in Saudi Arabia
  • Colocation Market Revenue & Forecast (2023-2029)
  • Wholesale vs. Retail Colocation Revenue (2023-2029)
  • Retail Colocation Pricing
  • Wholesale Colocation Pricing
• The Saudi Arabia data center market investments are classified into IT, power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast.
• A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, growth restraints, and prospects for the market.
• Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the market.
• A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the market.

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

• Some key colocation investors in the Saudi Arabia data center market in 2023 are center3 (stc), Gulf Data Hub, Mobily, EDGNEX Data Centres by DAMAC, and TONOMUS (ZeroPoint DC).
• Quantum Switch Tamasuk (QST), the joint venture between Quantum Switch and Tamasuk, aims to develop six facilities in the Saudi Arabia data center market across Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, and Neom with a power capacity of around 300 MW by 2026.
• Hyperscale operator Google announced its plans to develop a cloud and data center region in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Aramco, which was operational in November 2023.
• Microsoft has also announced its entry into the Saudi Arabia data center industry. In addition, Oracle Cloud has also planned to open a new cloud region in Riyadh with one availability zone.
• Telecom operators such as Saudi Telecom Company (stc), Mobily, and Zain KSA are the major telecom operators that have launched commercial 5G services nationwide.

EXISTING VS. UPCOMING DATA CENTERS

• Existing Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)
  • Riyadh
  • Jeddah
  • Dammam
  • Other Cities
• List of Upcoming Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)
  • Riyadh
  • Jeddah
  • Dammam
  • Other Cities

REPORT COVERAGE:

This report analyses the Saudi Arabia data center market share. It elaboratively analyses the existing and upcoming facilities and investments in IT, electrical, mechanical infrastructure, general construction, and tier standards. It discusses market sizing and investment estimation for different segments. The segmentation includes:

IT Infrastructure

• Servers
• Storage Systems
• Network Infrastructure

Electrical Infrastructure

• UPS Systems
• Generators
• Switches & Switchgears
• PDUs
• Other Electrical Infrastructure

Mechanical Infrastructure

• Cooling Systems
• Rack Cabinets
• Other Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems

• CRAC and CRAH
• Chillers
• Cooling Tower and Dry Coolers
• Other Cooling Units

General Construction

• Core & Shell Development
• Installation & commissioning Services
• Building & Engineering Design
• Fire Detection & Suppression Systems
• Physical Security
• Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Tier Standard

• Tier I & Tier II
• Tier III
• Tier IV

Geography

• Dammam
• Other Cities

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

• IT Infrastructure Providers: Arista Networks, Atos, Cisco Systems, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei Technologies, IBM, Inspur, Lenovo, and NetApp.
• Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors: ALEC Data Center Solutions, Al-Latifia Trading and Contracting, Ashi & Bushnag, Atkins, Aurecon, Capitoline, Critical Facilities Consulting & Services, DC PRO BV, Dar Group, Edarat Group, EGEC, HATCO, ICS Nett, INT’LTEC Group, JAMED, Linesight, RED, SANA Creative Systems, and UBIK.
• Support Infrastructure Providers: ABB, Airedale, Alfa Laval, Canovate, Caterpillar, Cummins, Eaton, Enrogen, Grundfos, Legrand, Mitsubishi Electric, Rolls-Royce, Schneider Electric, Siemens, STULZ, and Vertiv.
• Data Center Investors: center3 (stc), Google, Gulf Data Hub, Mobily, Oracle, and TONOMUS (ZeroPoint DC).
• New Entrants: Agility, EDGNEX Data Centres by DAMAC, Microsoft, and Quantum Switch Tamasuk (QST).