University of Kwazulu-Natal

Data Center Infrastructure In 2026 Dell Oro Group

Bonisiwe Shabane
-
data center infrastructure in 2026 dell oro group

Spending on high-end accelerated servers rose sharply in 2025 and continues to anchor AI infrastructure investment heading into 2026. These platforms pull through demand for GPUs and custom accelerators, HBM, high-capacity SSDs, and high-speed NICs and networks used in large AI clusters. While frontier model training remains important, a growing share of deployments is now driven by inference workloads, as hyperscalers scale AI services to millions of users globally. This shift meaningfully expands infrastructure requirements, as inference workloads require higher availability, geographic distribution, and tighter latency guarantees than centralized training clusters. High-end GPUs will remain the largest contributor to component market revenue growth in 2026, even as hyperscalers deploy more custom accelerators to optimize cost, power efficiency, and workload-specific performance at scale. NVIDIA is expected to begin shipping the Vera Rubin platform in 2H26, which increases system complexity through higher compute and networking density and optional Rubin CPX inference GPU configurations, materially boosting component attach rates.

AMD is positioning to gain share with its MI400 rack-scale platform, supported by recently announced wins at OpenAI and Oracle. Despite growing competition, GPUs continue to command outsized revenue due to higher ASPs, broader ecosystem support. As AI inference demand accelerates, hyperscalers will need to increase investment in near-edge data centers to meet latency, reliability, and regulatory requirements. These facilities—located closer to population centers than centralized hyperscale regions—are essential for real-time, user-facing AI services such as copilots, search, recommendation engines, and enterprise applications. As 2026 approaches, communications and infrastructure markets are entering a more selective phase of growth. AI workloads, platform consolidation, and tighter capital discipline are reshaping how operators, enterprises, and vendors prioritize investment.

Dell’Oro Group’s 2026 Predictions bring together insights from nine analysts across Data Center Infrastructure, Enterprise Networks & Security, and Telecom Networks, grounded in rigorous market tracking and long-term forecasting. Data Center Infrastructure Alex Cordovil | Baron Fung | Sameh Boujelbene Enterprise Networks & Security Mauricio Sanchez | Siân Morgan Telecom Networks Dave Bolan | Jeff Heynen | Jimmy Yu | Stefan Pongratz Global data centre capex is on track to reach US$377 billion ($541 billion) by 2026 with hyperscale cloud service providers accounting for more than half the market total, according to market firm Dell’Oro Group. The firm predicts the increased adoption of computing will generate market growth opportunities.

"The hyperscale service providers will lead the market in investing in new accelerated computing technologies, with an emphasis on the cutting-edge server and network architectures, as well as enhanced thermal management solutions,” said Dell’Oro... “However, there is much uncertainty in the near term for the overall market. Lingering supply chain challenges, persistent inflationary pressures, and declining economic growth could weigh down on enterprise data centre spending in the near term,” Fung noted. “Despite these near-term uncertainties, our long-term outlook is optimistic, as enterprises undergo digital transformation initiatives, deploying new hybrid cloud workloads, and with the cloud service providers and telecom operators extending their infrastructure to the... The hyperscale AI infrastructure buildout is entering a more mature phase. After several years of rapid regional expansion driven by resilience, redundancy, and data sovereignty, hyperscalers are now focused on scaling AI compute and supporting infrastructure efficiently.

As we move into 2026, the cycle is increasingly defined by capex discipline and execution risk, even as absolute investment levels remain historically high. Accelerated servers remain the core spending driver Spending on high-end accelerated servers rose sharply in 2025 and continues to anchor AI infrastructure investment heading into 2026. These platforms pull through demand for GPUs and custom accelerators, HBM, high-capacity SSDs, and high-speed NICs and networks used in large AI clusters. While frontier model training remains important, a growing share of deployments is now driven by inference workloads, as hyperscalers scale AI services to millions of users globally. This shift meaningfully expands infrastructure requirements, as inference workloads require higher availability, geographic distribution, and tighter latency guarantees than centralized training clusters. GPUs continue to dominate component revenue High-end GPUs will remain the largest contributor to component market revenue growth in 2026, even as hyperscalers deploy more custom accelerators to optimize cost, power efficiency, and workload-specific...

NVIDIA is expected to begin shipping the Vera Rubin platform in 2H26, which increases system complexity through higher compute and networking density and optional Rubin CPX inference GPU configurations, materially boosting component attach rates. AMD is positioning to gain share with its MI400 rack-scale platform, supported by recently announced wins at OpenAI and Oracle. Despite growing competition, GPUs continue to command outsized revenue due to higher ASPs, broader ecosystem support. Delivering content focused on broadband, fiber optics and optoelectronics A recent report published by Dell’Oro Group indicates that global data centers will reach $377 billion in capital expenditures by 2026, with hyperscale cloud service providers accounting for more than half of the market... According to the new Data Center IT Capex 5-Year Forecast Report, increased adoption of accelerated computing will generate market growth opportunities.

“The data center of the future will continue to evolve, with new accelerated computing architectures on the horizon enabling AI applications that are more automated, intelligent, and immersive for end users,” says Baron Fung,... The hyperscale service providers will lead the market in investing in new accelerated computing technologies, with an emphasis on the cutting-edge server and network architectures, as well as enhanced thermal management solutions.” Fung also cautions that there is uncertainty in the near term of the overall market, with lingering supply chain challenges, persistent inflationary pressures, and declining economic growth – all of which could weigh down... “Despite these near-term uncertainties, our long-term outlook appears optimistic,” adds Fung, “as enterprises undergo digital transformation initiatives, deploying new hybrid cloud workloads; and with the cloud service providers and telecom operators extending their infrastructure... Wireless price cuts rolled out this week suggest just how aggressive new Verizon CEO Dan Schulman could be in the fight to win back postpaid customers. Data Center Liquid Cooling to Exceed $1 Billion in Market Revenues by 2026

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recently published report from Dell'Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the telecommunications, networks, and data center industries, data center physical infrastructure (DCPI) revenues are... Growth is forecast to remain resilient, driven by sustainability-minded data center expansion from cloud and colocation service providers, despite near-term supply chain constraints persisting and macroeconomic headwinds forming. "Demand for data center physical infrastructure remains resilient, despite the developing macroeconomic uncertainties," said Lucas Beran, Principal Analyst at Dell'Oro Group. "Most importantly, data center sustainability has risen to the top of decision making criteria in the industry, opening the door for significant technology transitions during this forecast period. The most exciting is the acceleration of data center liquid cooling, as both direct liquid cooling (DLC) and immersion cooling (single-phase and two-phase) are forecast to grow significantly and surpass $1 billion in market...

Additional highlights from the Data Center Physical Infrastructure 5-Year July 2022 Report: Dell'Oro Group's Data Center Physical Infrastructure 5-Year Forecast Report offers complete, in-depth coverage of the data center physical infrastructure market. This covers market sizes and forecasts for uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), thermal management, cabinet power distribution and busway, rack power distribution, IT racks and containment, and software and services. Additional product level detail is provided for each market segment. Allocation of manufacturing revenues by cloud service providers, telco, colocation, and enterprise customer segments is also provided. For more information about the report, please contact us at [email protected].

According to a recently published report from Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the telecommunications, networks, and data center IT industries, global data center capex is on track to reach $350... We forecast hyperscale cloud service providers to double their data center spending over the next five years, fueling the market growth. “Our outlook for spending on data center infrastructure capex is optimistic, with a five-year projected growth of 10 percent,” said Baron Fung, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “The hyperscale cloud service providers will account for an increasing portion of the total market, as they invest to expand their network of data centers, increase cloud capacity, and deploy AI infrastructure to enable... We also anticipate incremental growth as data center infrastructure become more distributed, as the cloud and telecom service providers and enterprises launch new services at the edge of the network,” explained Fung. Top iTechnology Networking News: Atlas VPN Adds Support for Next-Generation WireGuard Protocol

Top iTechnology AIOps News: Sapiens Partners with Cloud-based SaaS Provider Charlee to Empower Insurers with Intelligent Insights. [To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

People Also Search

Spending On High-end Accelerated Servers Rose Sharply In 2025 And

Spending on high-end accelerated servers rose sharply in 2025 and continues to anchor AI infrastructure investment heading into 2026. These platforms pull through demand for GPUs and custom accelerators, HBM, high-capacity SSDs, and high-speed NICs and networks used in large AI clusters. While frontier model training remains important, a growing share of deployments is now driven by inference work...

AMD Is Positioning To Gain Share With Its MI400 Rack-scale

AMD is positioning to gain share with its MI400 rack-scale platform, supported by recently announced wins at OpenAI and Oracle. Despite growing competition, GPUs continue to command outsized revenue due to higher ASPs, broader ecosystem support. As AI inference demand accelerates, hyperscalers will need to increase investment in near-edge data centers to meet latency, reliability, and regulatory r...

Dell’Oro Group’s 2026 Predictions Bring Together Insights From Nine Analysts

Dell’Oro Group’s 2026 Predictions bring together insights from nine analysts across Data Center Infrastructure, Enterprise Networks & Security, and Telecom Networks, grounded in rigorous market tracking and long-term forecasting. Data Center Infrastructure Alex Cordovil | Baron Fung | Sameh Boujelbene Enterprise Networks & Security Mauricio Sanchez | Siân Morgan Telecom Networks Dave Bolan | Jeff ...

"The Hyperscale Service Providers Will Lead The Market In Investing

"The hyperscale service providers will lead the market in investing in new accelerated computing technologies, with an emphasis on the cutting-edge server and network architectures, as well as enhanced thermal management solutions,” said Dell’Oro... “However, there is much uncertainty in the near term for the overall market. Lingering supply chain challenges, persistent inflationary pressures, and...

As We Move Into 2026, The Cycle Is Increasingly Defined

As we move into 2026, the cycle is increasingly defined by capex discipline and execution risk, even as absolute investment levels remain historically high. Accelerated servers remain the core spending driver Spending on high-end accelerated servers rose sharply in 2025 and continues to anchor AI infrastructure investment heading into 2026. These platforms pull through demand for GPUs and custom a...