Apple Finalizing Plans to Build Super Data Center in China to Open in 2015

Apple has selected a location to build its next data center off of mainland China in the Shenzhen province of Hong Kong on China’s border. Bids are now being considered to build the center which is planned to be up and running in early 2015 as construction is said to begin in early 2013. The locale is no surprise as data centers overseas, especially in China, have a mountain of perks. Even though China has governmental laws that affect only the mainland, the legal structure as written in its current state will keep the normally intrusive government out of Apples pickets and data center in this location.

The new location offers various other elemental perks like China’s skilled workforce, business regulations, no lack of energy but mostly being geographically favorable in terms of marketing and politics. China and more so Asia is at an advantageous trading position in the world and not to mention that a huge Apple customer base lives in or near Hong Kong.

There is also the factor that Apple may be trying to appease the giant due to their tumultuous history. In the past, Apple has had issues at other plants in the US with security breaches and in other provinces of mainland China. If you recall China has had issues with US companies as censors tried to tangle with Google business practices which to date has modified what kind of search service can be offered to China’s citizens.  Apple’s plan is to not house any servers on the mainland but still Apple seems to understand that they are getting involved in a delicate balance between the need to do business in Asia and proximity to China. But the perks seem to outweigh the negative as the location offers them access to Asia’s most economically viable location and workforce.

China’s citizens are some of Apple’s biggest consumers and the proximity gives them direct access to this growing audience.  Apple currently has data centers in California and North Carolina and is planning other data centers in Nevada and Oregon also in the next couple of years.

This new data center has no match in history in planned magnitude and function. International and local construction companies are said to be bidding for the chance to play part in Apple’s history.

Julee Whalin writes on tech and gadget topics. She primarily writes for Consumer Priority Service, a company that provides extended warranty plans to retailers.