Apple will build its first Asian data center in Hong Kong near the Shenzhen border, according to a reports.
A report published this week by 9to5Mac states that construction will begin in Q1 2013 while the data center is expected to go operational by 2015.
An anonymous employee of a bidding contractor is quoted as saying that the Apple data center’s scale is unprecedented for his business. According to the report, Apple is still reviewing bids from various firms for the data center construction.
Though Apple had considered building its facility in Tseung Kwan O where data centers of large corporations -- such as Google, Hong Kong Exchange, and NTT Communications -- are located, the company didn't see the area as suitable given the construction cost and scale, the report adds.
Computerworld Hong Kong contacted Apple, the OGCIO (Office of the Government CIO), and InvestHK for a confirmation of the news.
While Apple hasn't responded to our inquiry at press time, the OGCIO declined to confirm or deny the report.
“We have received inquiries from many enterprises and data center operators about the prospect of setting up data centers in Hong Kong. We have provided information on Hong Kong's strengths as a location for data centers, government's facilitation measures and availability of possible sites. The final decision rests with these enterprises and we are not in a position to make any comment,” a spokesperson said.
InvestHK tweeted the same 9to5Mac report on Wednesday, but the organization's spokesperson in his email reply to our inquiry says: “InvestHK is working with a number of foreign companies in the data center space. But as with all our clients, we do not comment on the specifics of their investment in Hong Kong until the company is ready to publicise its individual plans.”