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Colocation Facilities in the US - Market Research Report (2014-2029)

Terry Faber Terry Faber New York, United States Last Updated: March 2024 NAICS OD5899

Revenue

$20.3bn

2024

$20.3bn

Past 5-Year Growth

Profit

$X.Xbn

Employees

44,265

Businesses

523

Wages

$X.Xbn

Colocation Facilities in the US industry analysis

Colocation centers have become pivotal nodes in the digital infrastructure ecosystem, offering robust platforms for businesses seeking reliable and scalable IT solutions. Colocation facilities provide businesses with physical space, power, cooling and security for their server hardware. These centers primarily attract businesses ranging from technology startups to large corporations, enabling them to leverage high-speed internet connections and advanced data center technologies without incurring the capital expenditures and operating complexities associated with in-house data centers.

Trends and Insights

  • Colocation centers offer a critical middle ground, settled between the abstraction of cloud providers and the financial inefficiency of in-house data centers. Operators provide the compute-conducive space, but clients rent space for their own hardware.
  • Colocation centers offer an enormous variety of rack space, but larger clients are taking greater advantage. Frequently, a colocation building will house the servers of only a few large businesses.
  • Colocation center operators choose to locate just outside of urban areas, gaining both space availability and proximity to potential business clients. A location is far more likely to make a sale if the client can oversee the server upkeep directly, making location choice key.
  • Most colocation centers target clients of similar sizes, with only the largest going for multinational technology companies as clients. Most colocation operators service local clients that have a few regional locations and no good way to expand data processing.
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Everything you need in one report

  • Reliable market estimates from 2014-2029
  • Competitive analysis, industry segmentation, financial benchmarks
  • Powerful SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces and risk management frameworks
  • Online membership platform with PDF, Word, Excel and PPT exports

Industry Overview

Market size and recent performance (2014-2029)

Industry revenue has grown at a CAGR of 7.4 % over the past five years, to reach an estimated $20.3bn in 2024.

Trends and Insights

Colocation centers flourish during the COVID uncertainty

  • Amid the COVID-19 turbulence, colocation centers emerged as critical allies for businesses pivoting towards robust digital operations. The agility of these centers to swiftly upscale computing capacity fulfilled the urgent demands for reliable IT infrastructure.
  • Additional trends and insights available with purchase
Colocation Facilities in the US
Revenue (2014-2029)
IBISWorld Logo Source: IBISWorld

Industry outlook (2024-2029)

Market size is projected to grow over the next five years.

Trends and Insights

Continued growth of digital technology benefits colocation servers

  • Revenue is set to grow due to increased demand from data processing and hosting services, the number of businesses and percentage of business services conducted online.

Biggest companies in the Colocation Facilities in the US

Company
Market Share (%)
2024
Revenue ($m)
2024
Profit ($m)
2024
Profit Margin (%)
2024
Equinix, Inc.
2,791.4
250.9
9.0

To view the market share and analysis for all 1 top companies in this industry, view purchase options.

Products & Services Segmentation

Colocation Facilities in the US
Products & Services
IBISWorld Logo Source: IBISWorld

Industry revenue is measured across several distinct product and services lines, including Single server/partial rack space, Racks and cages and Suites (wholesale). Single server/partial rack space is the largest segment of the Colocation Facilities in the US.

Trends and Insights

The cloud obscures single-server colocation purchases

  • Customers looking to purchase a single server from a colocation center are frequently mid-sized businesses that are just starting out and need access to quick, reliable computing.
  • More insights available in the full report

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Competitors

  • There are no industries to display.

Complementors

  • Software Publishing in the US
  • Data Processing & Hosting Services in the US
  • Database, Storage & Backup Software Publishing in the US
  • Security Software Publishing in the US

International industries

  • Data Processing & Hosting Services in Canada
  • Cloud Storage Services in Australia
  • Cloud Hosting and Data Processing Services in Australia
  • Data Processing and Web Hosting Services in New Zealand
  • Data Processing & Hosting Services in the UK

View all industries in United States

Table of Contents

About this industry

Industry definition

Operators own and operate data centers that primarily lease equipment space to customers. Companies in the industry also offer auxiliary services including power management, security and network neutrality. Customers generally use industry services as off-site data storage to back up their data or to enable them to focus on other parts of their business without paying for these operations.

What's included in this industry?

Providing single server spaceProviding a server rackProviding a server cage or suiteProviding auxiliary services

Companies

Equinix, Inc.

Purchase this report to view all 1 major companies in this industry.

Related Terms

REDUNDANCYKILOWATT-HOURCLOUD COMPUTING

Industry Code

NAICS 2017

NAICS 51821 - Colocation Facilities in the US

Performance

Get an indication of the industry's health through historical, current and forward-looking trends in the performance indicators that make or break businesses.

Analyst insights

Colocation centers offer a critical middle ground, settled between the abstraction of cloud providers and the financial inefficiency of in-house data centers. Operators provi...

In this chapter (4)

  • Current Performance
  • Outlook
  • Volatility
  • Life Cycle

Key metrics

  • Annual Revenue, Recent Growth, Forecast, Revenue Volatility
  • Number of Employees, Recent Growth, Forecast, Employees per Business, Revenue per Employee
  • Number of Businesses, Recent Growth, Forecast, Employees per Business, Revenue per Business
  • Total Profit, Profit Margin, Profit per Business

Charts

  • Revenue, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Employees, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Businesses, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Profit, including historical (2014-2024)
  • Industry Volatility vs. Revenue Growth
  • Industry Life Cycle

Detailed analysis

  • Trends in supply, demand and current events that are driving current industry performance
  • Expected trends, economic factors and ongoing events that drive the industry's outlook
  • Key success factors for businesses to overcome volatility
  • How contribution to GDP, industry saturation, innovation, consolidation, and technology and systems influence the industry's life cycle phase.

Products and Markets

Learn about an industry's products and services, markets and trends in international trade.

Analyst insight

Colocation centers offer an enormous variety of rack space, but larger clients are taking greater advantage. Frequently, a colocation building will house the servers of only ...

In this chapter

  • Products & Services
  • Major Markets

Key metrics

  • Largest market segment and value in 2024
  • Product innovation level

Charts

  • Products & services segmentation in 2024
  • Major market segmentation in 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Trends impacting the recent performance of the industry's various segments
  • Innovations in the industry's product or service offering, specialization or delivery method
  • Key factors that successful businesses consider in their offerings
  • Buying segments and key trends influencing demand for industry products and services

Geographic Breakdown

Discover where business activity is most concentrated in an industry and the factors driving these trends to find opportunities and conduct regional benchmarking.

Analyst insights

Colocation center operators choose to locate just outside of urban areas, gaining both space availability and proximity to potential business clients. A location is far more ...

In this chapter (1)

  • Business Locations

Charts

  • Share of revenue, establishment, wages and employment in each state
  • Share of population compared to establishments in each region in 2024

Tables

  • Number and share of establishments in each state in 2024
  • Number and share of revenue each state accounts for in 2024
  • Number and share of wages each state accounts for in 2024
  • Number and share of employees in each state in 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Geographic spread of the industry across North America, and trends associated with changes in the business landscape
  • Key success factors for businesses to use location to their advantage

Competitive Forces

Get data and insights on what's driving competition in an industry and the challenges industry operators and new entrants may face, with analysis built around Porter's Five Forces framework.

Analyst insights

Most colocation centers target clients of similar sizes, with only the largest going for multinational technology companies as clients. Most colocation operators service loca...

In this chapter (4)

  • Concentration
  • Barriers to Entry
  • Substitutes
  • Buyer & Supplier Analysis

Key metrics

  • Industry concentration level
  • Industry competition level and trend
  • Barriers to entry level and trend
  • Substitutes level and trend
  • Buyer power level and trend
  • Supplier power level and trend

Charts

  • Market share concentration among the top 4 suppliers from 2019-2024
  • Supply chain including upstream supplying industries and downstream buying industries, flow chart

Detailed analysis

  • Factors impacting the industry’s level of concentration, such as business distribution, new entrants, or merger and acquisition activity.
  • Key success factors for businesses to manage the competitive environment of the industry.
  • Challenges that potential industry entrants face such as legal, start-up costs, differentiation, labor/capital intensity and capital expenses.
  • Key success factors for potential entrants to overcome barriers to entry.
  • Competitive threats from potential substitutes for the industry’s own products and services.
  • Key success factors for how successful businesses can compete with substitutes.
  • Advantages that buyers have to keep favorable purchasing conditions.
  • Advantages that suppliers have to maintain favorable selling conditions.
  • Key success factors for how businesses can navigate buyer and supplier power.

Companies

Learn about the performance of the top companies in the industry.

Analyst insights

Major companies are vying for international colocation center space, scooping up deals with major clients across the globe. Getting prime space outside a major international ...

In this chapter

  • Market Share Concentration
  • Companies
  • Company Spotlights

Charts

  • Industry market share by company in 2020 through 2024
  • Major companies in the industry, including market share, revenue, profit and profit margin in 2024
  • Overview of Equinix, Inc.'s performance by revenue, market share and profit margin from 2018 through 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Description and key data for Equinix, Inc., and factors influencing its performance in the industry

External Environment

Understand the demographic, economic and regulatory factors that shape how businesses in an industry perform.   

Analyst insights

Green energy investments are at the front of colocation operators’ minds as states and countries implement regulations for datacenter energy use. However, the large, flat roo...

In this chapter

  • External Drivers
  • Regulation & Policy
  • Assistance

Key metrics

  • Regulation & policy level and trend
  • Assistance level and trend

Charts

  • Regulation & Policy historical data and forecast (2014-2029) 
  • Assistance historical data and forecast (2014-2029) 

Detailed analysis

  • Demographic and macroeconomic factors influencing the industry, including Regulation & Policy and Assistance
  • Major types of regulations, regulatory bodies, industry standards or specific regulations impacting requirements for industry operators
  • Key governmental and non-governmental groups or policies that may provide some relief for industry operators.

Financial Benchmarks

View average costs for industry operators and compare financial data against an industry's financial benchmarks over time. 

Analyst insights

Utilities and infrastructure are major costs for colocation centers, especially those which focus extensively on reliability. Some locations might have renewable, grid and fu...

In this chapter

  • Cost Structure
  • Financial Ratios
  • Key Ratios

Key metrics

  • Profit margin, and how it compares to the sector-wide margin
  • Average wages, and how it compares to the sector-wide average wage
  • Largest cost component as a percentage of revenue
  • Industry average ratios for days' receivables, industry coverage and debt-to-net-worth ratio

Charts

  • Average industry operating costs as a share of revenue, including purchases, wages, depreciation, utilities, rent, other costs and profit in 2024
  • Average sector operating costs as a share of revenue, including purchases, wages, depreciation, utilities, rent, other costs and profit in 2024
  • Investment vs. share of economy

Data tables

  • Industry Multiples (2017-2022)
  • Industry Tax Structure (2017-2022)
  • Income Statement (2017-2022)
  • Balance Sheet (2017-2022)
  • Liquidity Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Coverage Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Leverage Ratios  (2017-2022)
  • Operating Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Cash Flow & Debt Service Ratios (2014-2029)
  • Revenue per Employee (2014-2029)
  • Revenue per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • Employees per Establishment (2014-2029)
  • Employees per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • Average Wage (2014-2029)
  • Wages/Revenue (2014-2029)
  • Establishments per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • IVA/Revenue (2014-2029)
  • Imports/Demand (2014-2029)
  • Exports/Revenue (2014-2029)

Detailed analysis

  • Trends in the cost component for industry operators and their impact on industry costs and profitability 

Key Statistics

Industry Data

Data Tables

Including values and annual change:

  • Revenue (2014-2029)
  • IVA (2014-2029)
  • Establishments (2014-2029)
  • Enterprises (2014-2029)
  • Employment (2014-2029)
  • Exports (2014-2029)
  • Imports (2014-2029)
  • Wages (2014-2029)

Methodology

How are IBISWorld reports created?

IBISWorld has been a leading provider of trusted industry research for over 50 years to the most successful companies worldwide. With offices in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China, we are proud to have local teams of analysts that conduct research, data analysis and forecasting to produce data-driven industry reports.

Our analysts start with official, verified and publicly available sources of data to build the most accurate picture of each industry. Analysts then leverage their expertise and knowledge of the local markets to synthesize trends into digestible content for IBISWorld readers. Finally, each report is reviewed by one of IBISWorld’s editors, who provide quality assurance to ensure accuracy and readability.

IBISWorld relies on human-verified data and human-written analysis to compile each standard industry report. We do not use generative AI tools to write insights, although members can choose to leverage AI-based tools within the platform to generate additional analysis formats.

What data sources do IBISWorld analysts use?

Each industry report incorporates data and research from government databases, industry-specific sources, industry contacts, and our own proprietary database of statistics and analysis to provide balanced, independent and accurate insights.

Key data sources in the US include: 

  • US Census Bureau
  • US Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • US International Trade Commission

Analysts also use industry specific sources to complement catch-all sources, although their perspective may focus on a particular organization or representative body, rather than a clear overview of all industry operations. However, when balanced against other perspectives, industry-specific sources provide insights into industry trends.

These sources include:

  • Industry and trade associations
  • Industry federations or regulators
  • Major industry players annual or quarterly filings

Finally, IBISWorld’s global data scientists maintain a proprietary database of macroeconomic and demand drivers, which our analysts use to help inform industry data and trends. They also maintain a database of statistics and analysis on thousands of industries, which has been built over our more than 50-year history and offers comprehensive insights into long-term trends.

How does IBISWorld forecast its data?

IBISWorld’s analysts and data scientists use the sources above to create forecasts for our proprietary datasets and industry statistics. Depending on the dataset, they may use regression analysis, multivariate analysis, time-series analysis or exponential smoothing techniques to project future data for the industry or driver. Additionally, analysts will leverage their local knowledge of industry operating and regulatory conditions to impart their best judgment on the forecast model.

IBISWorld prides itself on being a trusted, independent source of data, with over 50 years of experience building and maintaining rich datasets and forecasting tools. We are proud to be the keystone source of industry information for thousands of companies across the world.

Learn more about our methodology and data sourcing on the Help Center.

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlock comprehensive answers and precise data upon purchase. View purchase options.

What is the market size of the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States in 2024?

The market size of the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States is $20.3bn in 2024.

How many businesses are there in the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in 2024?

There are 523 businesses in the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States, which has grown at a CAGR of 7.5 % between 2019 and 2024.

Has the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States grown or declined over the past 5 years?

The market size of the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States has been growing at a CAGR of 7.4 % between 2019 and 2024.

What is the forecast growth of the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States over the next 5 years?

Over the next five years, the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States is expected to grow.

What are the biggest companies in the Colocation Facilities in the US market in United States?

The biggest company operating in the Colocation Facilities market in United States is Equinix, Inc.

What does the Colocation Facilities in the US in United States include?

Providing single server space and Providing a server rack are part of the Colocation Facilities in the US industry.

Which companies have the highest market share in the Colocation Facilities in the US in United States?

The company holding the most market share in United States is Equinix, Inc..

How competitive is the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States?

The level of competition is high and increasing in the Colocation Facilities in the US industry in United States.