Apple Apparently Still Searching For Hong Kong Data Center Location

Apple reportedly plans to establish a new data center in Hong Kong.

According to reports in Hong Kong local media, the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks are currently talking with Apple, hoping that the company could locate its new data center in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.

Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate has two pieces of land available for the construction of the data center. One has an area of 20,000 square meters and the other covers 25,000 square meters. So far, several companies have located their data centers in the park, including NTT, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, and HSBC.

Apple’s new data center Hong Kong will reportedly start construction in the first quarter of 2013 and it is expected to formally begin operations in about a year. By setting up the data center in Hong Kong, Apple can not only save money, but also provide better data service experience to its users in Greater China. At present, Greater China has become the fastest growth market for Apple.

Apple currently has a small data center in California and its data center in Maiden, North Carolina, which was completed in 2011, has started providing services to users. In addition, the company plans to build new ones in Reno, Nevada and in Prineville, Oregon.

Apple is not the first American technology company to establish a data center in Hong Kong. In December 2011, Google announced that it would invest USD300 million to build a data center in Hong Kong, which will be operational in the beginning of 2013.