Amid the development of new technologies such as immersion cooling to address the intense heat generated by AI semiconductors, Japanese companies are moving to target the ¥8 trillion data center cooling market. Specific examples include Idemitsu Kosan's cooling oils, TDK's acquisition and Nidec's plans to increase CDU production.
Cooling is said to account for approximately 40% of data center facility power as generative AI becomes more widespread, and with air cooling increasingly unable to keep up, the shift to liquid cooling and immersion cooling is accelerating. Immersion cooling increases heat transfer rates and could significantly reduce the power consumed for cooling.
Following a report by Nikkei, Japanese companies are entering the data center cooling infrastructure market. The market is estimated at approximately ¥8 trillion, including peripheral equipment and related businesses, although differences in assumptions from overseas estimates should also be noted.
Specifically, Idemitsu Kosan has launched the IDEMITSU ICF series of immersion cooling oils, TDK has announced plans to acquire Fabric8Labs, and Nidec has outlined plans to expand production capacity for coolant distribution units (CDUs). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other companies are also conducting demonstrations of immersion cooling systems.
Japanese companies are seeking to capture the market opportunity by focusing their strategy on the stable supply of cooling infrastructure, without directly participating in the development of AI semiconductors. Meanwhile, major overseas equipment manufacturers are also accelerating their entry into the market, and the long-term competitive landscape is expected to unfold on an international scale.