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Analyst Index · Infrastructure & Telecoms

Baron Fung

Vice President of Research, Dell'Oro Group
36%
Accuracy
39 of 41
Analyst ranking
14
Predictions scored
8
Still to fall due
2 right2 mostly right1 mostly wrong9 wrong
Scored predictions14
Wrong · 0%Global data center capex is projected to rise by more than 30 percent in 2025Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Mar 2025 · due Dec 2025

What happened. Dell'Oro reported data-centre capex up 57 percent in 2025 (its first published full-year figure, 17 March 2026 release). "More than 30%" is scored as a point forecast of 30% under the threshold ruling. Actual 57%: 27 points out, more than 10, so Wrong. Sources: delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Data Center Capex Surged 51 Percent to $455 Billion in 2024 (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · counts 1Forecast 30% · actual 57%High confidence
Wrong · 0%data center capex growth in 2025 is expected to moderate as some hyperscale cloud service providers temporarily pause their expansion effortsInfrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2024 · due Dec 2025

What happened. Growth sped up rather than moderated: Dell'Oro reported data-centre capex up 57% in 2025 versus 51% in 2024, with Top 4 US cloud data-centre capex up 76%. The call was for slower growth in 2025; on Dell'Oro's own figures growth was faster. No hyperscaler paused. Sources: delloro.com, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Hyperscale Capex Surges 82 Percent in 3Q 2024 Fueled by AI Infrastructure Spending (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Trend call · counts 0.5Medium confidence
Mostly wrong · 25%Global data center capital expenditures are expected to rise by 44 percent in 2024Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2024 · due Dec 2024

What happened. Dell'Oro reported 2024 data-centre capex up 51 percent to $455 billion (its first published full-year figure, 19 March 2025 release). Forecast 44%, actual 51%: 7 points out on a short-horizon call. Sources: delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Hyperscale Capex Surges 82 Percent in 3Q 2024 Fueled by AI Infrastructure Spending (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · short-range · counts 0.5Forecast 44% · actual 51%High confidence
Wrong · 0%Double-digit data center capex growth is projected through 2025Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Sep 2024 · due Dec 2025

What happened. Dell'Oro's first published full-year figures: worldwide data-centre capex up 51% in 2024 (19 March 2025 release) and 57% in 2025 (17 March 2026 release). 'Double-digit' is a named range (10-19%). Growth was 51% in 2024 and 57% in 2025, both outside the range; scored from the nearest edge (19%): misses of 32 and 38 points, so Wrong. The final year (2025) is entered as the actual. Sources: delloro.com, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Accelerated Servers Propelled Data Center Capex to 46 Percent Growth in 2Q 2024 (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · counts 1Forecast 19% · actual 57%High confidence
Wrong · 0%Worldwide data center capex is forecast for 35 percent growth in 2024Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Sep 2024 · due Dec 2024

What happened. Dell'Oro reported 2024 data-centre capex up 51 percent to $455 billion (its first published full-year figure, 19 March 2025 release). Forecast 35%, actual 51%: 16 points out, even with half the year's data in hand. Sources: delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Accelerated Servers Propelled Data Center Capex to 46 Percent Growth in 2Q 2024 (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · short-range · counts 0.5Forecast 35% · actual 51%High confidence
Wrong · 0%accelerated computing is forecast to lift hyperscale cloud capex to 17 percent growth in 2024Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Mar 2024 · due Dec 2024

What happened. Combined capex of Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta rose about 62% in 2024 (company filings); Dell'Oro reported hyperscale data-centre capex up 82% in 3Q 2024. Forecast 17%, actual growth around 60%: a miss of over 40 points. Sources: platformonomics.com, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: AI Investments to Lift Hyperscale Cloud Capex 17 Percent in 2024 (Dell'Oro press release)

Specific · counts 1Forecast 17% · actual 62%High confidence
Wrong · 0%GPU revenue is forecasted to achieve a 70 percent growth in 2024.Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2023 · due Dec 2024

What happened. NVIDIA, which held the large majority of the GPU market, reported data-centre revenue up 142% to $115.2bn in fiscal 2025 (Feb 2024 to Jan 2025). Dell'Oro reported accelerator revenue up 130% in 3Q 2024. GPU revenue roughly doubled or more, far above the 70% forecast. NVIDIA's segment includes networking and runs on a fiscal year, so the comparison is close but not exact. Sources: sec.gov, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: AI Boosts the Server Semiconductor and Component Market to 29 Percent Growth in 3Q 2023 (Dell'Oro press release)

Specific · counts 1Forecast 70% · actual 142%Medium confidence
Wrong · 0%The hyperscale cloud service providers are forecast to increase their data center capex by 13 percent in 2024.Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2023 · due Dec 2024

What happened. Combined capex of Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta rose about 62% in 2024 (company filings). Dell'Oro reported hyperscale data-centre capex up 82% in 3Q 2024 and total data-centre capex up 51% for the year. Forecast 13%; every measure of 2024 hyperscale spending grew by 50% or more. Sources: platformonomics.com, delloro.com, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Amazon, Meta, and Enterprise Spend to Drive Data Center Capex to 11 Percent Growth in 2024 (Dell'Oro press release)

Specific · counts 1Forecast 13% · actual 62%High confidence
Wrong · 0%worldwide data center capex is forecast to rebound to 11 percent growth in 2024Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2023 · due Dec 2024

What happened. Dell'Oro reported global data-centre capex surged 51 percent to $455 billion in 2024 (its first published full-year figure, 19 March 2025 release). Independently, combined capex of Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta rose about 62%. Forecast 11%, actual 51%: a 40-point miss. The AI build-out was badly underestimated. Sources: delloro.com, platformonomics.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Amazon, Meta, and Enterprise Spend to Drive Data Center Capex to 11 Percent Growth in 2024 (Dell'Oro press release)

Specific · counts 1Forecast 11% · actual 51%High confidence
Wrong · 0%we project some of the cloud service providers such as Microsoft and Google will continue to increase spending by double digitsInfrastructure & Telecoms · made Jun 2023 · due Dec 2023

What happened. Calendar 2023 cash capex (SEC filings): Microsoft $24.76bn to $35.21bn (+42%), Alphabet $31.48bn to $32.25bn (+2.4%); combined $56.2bn to $67.5bn, up about 20%. Dell'Oro's recap says both raised data-centre investment but gives no growth rates. Jay 25 Oct 2026: the call was that Microsoft and Google would each grow capex by double digits (10-19%). Alphabet grew about 2% and Microsoft about 42%, both outside the range and far from it. Sources: platformonomics.com, sec.gov, delloro.com.

Source: Global Data Center Capex Decelerates to 8 Percent Growth in 1Q 2023 (Dell'Oro press release)

Specific · counts 1Medium confidence
Right · 100%we anticipate the Top 4 US Cloud SPs to trim data center capex to single-digit growth in 2023Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Jan 2023 · due Dec 2023

What happened. Dell'Oro's own data had Top 4 US cloud data-centre capex at low to mid single-digit growth in 2023 (+1% in 3Q23; Nov 2023 full-year forecast mid single digits), down from over 30% in 2022. Company filings for total capex show about -2.5%, on a wider scope. Jay 25 Oct 2026: scored on Dell'Oro's own data-centre capex basis, which put Top 4 growth at low to mid single digits in 2023, inside the single-digit range. No exact full-year figure was published. Sources: platformonomics.com, sec.gov, delloro.com.

Source: Data Center Infrastructure Market: A Look into 2023 (Dell'Oro blog, by Baron Fung)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · counts 1Low confidence
Right · 100%Data center capex growth is projected to grow single digits in 2023.Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2022 · due Dec 2023

What happened. Dell'Oro reported worldwide data-centre capex grew 4 percent in 2023 (its first published full-year figure, 14 March 2024 release), to $260 billion, down from 15 percent in 2022. 'Single digits' is a range (1-9%). Dell'Oro's first published 2023 growth was 4%, inside the range, so Right; forecast_value is set to the nearest point of the range to the actual (the actual itself). Sources: delloro.com, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Hyperscale Data Center Capex on Track for 28 Percent Growth in 2022 (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · counts 1Forecast 4% · actual 4%High confidence
Mostly right · 75%Worldwide data center capex forecast to grow 17 percent in 2022.Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2021 · due Dec 2022

What happened. Dell'Oro reported that global data-centre capex grew 15 percent to $241 billion in 2022. Forecast 17%, actual 15%: 2 points out. The March 2022 restatement ($240bn+) landed almost exactly. Sources: delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Spending for the Hyperscale Cloud Service Providers to Surge 30 Percent in 2022 (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · counts 1Forecast 17% · actual 15%High confidence
Mostly right · 75%data center spending for the hyperscale cloud service providers is forecast to surge by 30 percent in 2022Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Dec 2021 · due Dec 2022

What happened. Dell'Oro's December 2022 release put hyperscale data-centre capex on track for 28 percent growth in 2022, and Fung's January 2023 blog put the Top 4 US cloud providers on track for 32 percent. No final full-year hyperscale figure was published in a release. Forecast 30%, Dell'Oro's own estimate 28% (Top 4: 32%), a miss of about 2 points. Sources: delloro.com, delloro.com.

Paraphrased. Source: Spending for the Hyperscale Cloud Service Providers to Surge 30 Percent in 2022 (Dell'Oro press release)

Caveat. No independent evidence available. Scored on Dell'Oro Group’s own figures.

Specific · counts 1Forecast 30% · actual 28%Medium confidence
Still to fall due8 predictions
  1. Dec 2030worldwide data center capital capex is forecast to maintain growth momentum and surpass $3 trillion by 2030Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Aug 2026 · source
  2. Dec 2026global data center capex is expected to approach $1 Trillion in 2026, reaching a major industry milestone sooner than anticipatedInfrastructure & Telecoms · made Feb 2026 · source
  3. Dec 2029worldwide data center capex is projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2029Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Feb 2025 · source
  4. Dec 2026Top 4 US-based Cloud SPs—Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft—will account for half of global data center capex as early as 2026Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Aug 2024 · source
  5. Dec 2027AI infrastructure spending will propel data center capex to over a half trillion dollars by 2027Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Jul 2023 · source
  6. Dec 2027global data center capex is on track to reach $400 billion by 2027Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Feb 2023 · source
  7. Dec 2026the telecom server market opportunity is projected to reach $14 B by 2026Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Nov 2022 · source
  8. Dec 2026global data center capex is on track to reach $350 billion by 2026Infrastructure & Telecoms · made Feb 2022 · source
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