Hyperscale operators now account for nearly half of all worldwide data center capacity and could hold more than two-thirds of the market by 2031, according to Synergy Research Group.

In its latest findings, Synergy found that hyperscalers now account for 48 percent of the worldwide capacity of all data centers, with 60 percent of that number belonging to own-built, owned data centers.

Non-hyperscale colocation capacity now accounts for just 20 percent of total capacity, with enterprise on-premises data centers making up the remaining 32 percent.

In 2018, on-premises enterprise data centers accounted for more than half (56 percent) of total worldwide capacity.

Overall, total capacity will rise, driven by hyperscale capacity growing by a factor of three. Under such high growth projections, Synergy projects hyperscale owners will account for 67 percent of all capacity worldwide by 2031, with on-premises capacity dropping to just 19 percent of market share.

However, on-premises data center capacity will see growth due to generative AI applications and GPU infrastructure, the research company said.

The market share of colo operators will also drop, but capacity will continue to increase by nearly double each year.

"Cloud and consumer-oriented digital services have been driving changes in data center deployment patterns for many years now, but over the last three years AI technology has accelerated those changes," said John Dinsdale, a chief analyst at Synergy Research Group.

“We are seeing a different mix of data center usage across the regions, but overall the world is racing towards a situation where hyperscale operators are responsible for the bulk of global data center capacity. There are almost 800 hyperscale data centers in our known future pipeline, enabling hyperscale capacity to double in just three years."