#USA #San Jose #AI Infrastructure #Open Compute Project #IDC Forecast

Significant Growth in Infrastructure Spending

The Open Compute Project (OCP) Foundation has recently unveiled a substantial increase in the International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast for global expenditures on IT equipment recognized by the OCP. The IDC Market Impact Study for 2026 predicts annual spending will reach approximately $800 billion by 2029, a considerable rise from last year's estimate of $295 billion for the same year, resulting in a dramatic 2.7 times increase.

Future Projections

Moreover, forecasts indicate that spending could rise to $892 billion by 2030, with about 51% of expenditures within measured infrastructure categories expected to focus on OCP-recognized IT devices. This growth trajectory is a testament to the rising investments in AI technologies and their applications, showing an impressive potential climb from $154 billion in 2025 to $892 billion in 2030, which constitutes an approximate 42% CAGR.

According to the IDC, servers will dominate spending, particularly driven by GPU-accelerated systems. Furthermore, continued growth is expected in areas like switching devices, rack infrastructure, power supplies, and cooling systems, all crucial for supporting increasingly demanding workloads.

Key Insights from the Study

1. 800 billion dollars in projected annual spending by 2029.
2. 892 billion dollars in projected annual spending by 2030, with around $814 billion allocated specifically for servers.
3. Approximately 51% of the future spending is anticipated to be directed at OCP-recognized infrastructure projects.
4. AI-related infrastructure projects recognized by OCP are expected to account for approximately $628 billion of the total projected spend in 2030, nearly 70% of the forecasted expenses.

Furthermore, IDC emphasizes the importance of a growing ecosystem of solution providers and the availability of openly shared designs, which are pivotal in fostering market acceptance. The use of OCP-recognized IT equipment is not limited to formal OCP Foundation membership but extends globally to organizations that access and implement these designs.

Advancing Open Infrastructure

The results of this study align with the expanded vision of the Open Data Center Ecosystem initiated by OCP, which aims to address the interconnected requirements of AI infrastructure from chips to networks. Last year, the OCP community successfully advanced powerful rack designs, liquid cooling systems, Ethernet-based AI networks, and open chiplet specifications. Key initiatives also cover areas like direct current distribution, energy storage, and coordination between data centers and the power grid.

Strategic Initiatives

The foundation's Open Data Center for AI initiative consolidates efforts across various domains, including power management and cooling. The ongoing collaboration aims to expand its reach to both energy generation and storage, while the AI Computing Continuum Project seeks applications beyond hyperscale data centers into corporate, regional, and edge environments. As AI infrastructure advances, OCP plans to provide support for diverse AI silicon chips and enhance design coordination throughout data centers, developing open components for broader environmental applicability.

Conclusion

The IDC Market Impact Study for 2026 comprehensively evaluates global spending patterns for OCP-recognized IT equipment, encompassing servers, external storage, switches, IT racks, power provisioning, cooling systems, carrier equipment, and peripherals. The numbers presented reflect annual spending, with percentages appropriately rounded. The Open Compute Project Foundation continues to foster collaboration within the global data center and IT infrastructure community to cultivate open hardware designs, specifications, and best practices aimed at driving innovation in the broader market.

For more detailed information, please visit opencompute.org.