Amazon AWS will join Google and Microsoft with Taiwan-based data centers in 2024

Amazon AWS has announced that it will build data centers in Taiwan, with "specific progress" expected in 2024. This will see the US cloud provider joining other American cloud companies like Google and Microsoft, which have been setting up data centers in Taiwan.

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Wang Dingkai, general manager of Amazon AWS Taiwan and Hong Kong, said on March 28 that the "computer room implementation plan continues," and that it is also subject to "dynamic adjustments". Dingkai added that "there will be good news to share with you soon".

Microsoft first announced in 2020 that it would build a new data center in Taiwan, "quietly carrying out related projects" over the past 2 to 3 years. It's rumored that there will be "specific progress" in Microsoft's data center in Taiwan. The company says that since this is a large-scale project, it will be completed in stages and that if everything continues going to plan, there will be an announcement in the future.

US search giant Google built a large-scale data center in Taiwan's Changbin Industrial Park over a decade ago back in 2023, purchasing land in Tainan over 5 years ago now to prepare for a second data center in the country. With Microsoft and now Amazon AWS planning data centers in Taiwan, it will mean that four of the major global cloud platforms will be found in Taiwan to provide cloud-based services worldwide.

Ctee reports that industry insiders say that due to restricted regulations if certain sensitive data is to be used in cloud services, its prerequisite is data landing. Government departments, financial institutions, and the medical industry will all need to comply with relevant data landing standards. These types of businesses would greatly benefit from Taiwan-based data centers, as the huge task of migrating their data and services to the cloud are the exact reasons why companies like Microsoft and Amazon AWS are building cloud data centers in Taiwan.

Taiwan's infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market includes five major companies: Amazon AWS, Microsoft, Google, Chunghwa Telecom, and Far EasTone Telecommunications. According to IDC statistics, these five companies make up more than 90% of the market.