Google recently announced its plan to build its third datacenter in Yunlin county, Central Taiwan, making the country its biggest bases in the Pacific Asia, the Commercial Times reported on September 4. The total investment for the new site is projected at NT$20 billion (US$692.0 million; US$1 = NT$28.9). As part of Google’s “smart Taiwan” initiative launched in 2018, the new datacenter will be located at the Yunlin Technology Industrial Park and expects to begin operations around 2022, Nikkei Asian Review reported. In addition to Yunlin county, Google already has four datacenters in Asia. In 2013, the company set up its first datacenter in Changhua county for US$780 million and, in October 2019, the second one in Tainan city for US$890 million. Another Asian datacenter is based in Singapore.
Shipment volume of the global server industry is estimated to reach 12.5 million units and 12.9 million units in 2020 and 2021, representing 3.1% and 3.3% year-on-year growth, respectively, according to Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), a government think tank and IT research institute based in Taipei, Taiwan. MIC stated that the industry’s shipments dipped by 20.6% sequentially in the first quarter of 2020 as COVID-19 pandemic dampened the server supply chain in China, especially PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The industry then enjoyed 15.4% sequential shipment growth in the second quarter due mainly to the pull-in effect and the easing of city lockdowns in China.