ウェブスケール市場の追跡調査 (2025年第1四半期)：AI FOMOが12カ月のCAPEXを3,400億ドルに押し上げ、通信市場の規模を突破

もし現在のAI投資ブームを知的財産の盗用、政府の補助金、過剰な期待によるバブルだと考えているなら、2025年第1四半期の業績は安心材料にはならないでしょう。

大手ハイテク企業のウェブスケールインフラの構築は、引き続き記録を更新しています。2025年第1四半期、当社のウェブスケール追跡調査に掲載の22社 (新規参入のCoreWeaveを含む) は、前年同期比9.2%増の6,520億ドルの収益を上げ、CAPEXは67.2%増の970億ドルに急増しました。R&D支出も12.2%増加し、840億ドルに達しましたが、現金保有額は3.6%減の6,350億ドルとなり、負債は1.3%増の5,600億ドルとなっています。有形固定資産 (Net PP&E) は前年同期比32.9%増の1兆ドル近くに急増しました。従業員数は前年同期比横ばいの417万人でした。

ビジュアル

収益：成長はビッグ4に集中

2025年第1四半期の収益は6,516億ドルに達し、前年比9.2％の増加となり、年換算で2兆6,500億ドルの規模に拡大しました。CoreWeaveとYandexが最も高い成長率を示しましたが、収益を牽引したのはAlphabet (前年比＋13.1%)、Amazon (＋10.1%)、Meta (＋19.4%)、Microsoft (＋14.1%) のビッグ4でした。中でもAmazonは最も多くの収益増を記録し、前年比124億ドル増の1,557億ドル (＋8.6%) となりました。一方で、Fujitsuはクラウドおよびデータセンターサービスからの撤退により、収益が前年比18.7%減少。Baidu、eBay、IBMはいずれも成長率が2%未満にとどまりました。

CAPEX：AIブームが支出を爆発的に押し上げる

2025年第1四半期のCAPEXは前年比67.2%増の966億ドルとなり、年換算で3,430億ドルに達し、前年から65%増と過去最高を更新しました。

ChatGPTをきっかけとし、投資家によって煽られたAIブームは、現在この分野の支配的な推進力となっています。GPUへの支出は天井知らずで、米国のウェブスケール企業は「酔っ払った水兵」のように資金を投入しています。

地域動向：アジアの回復

アジア太平洋地域の収益は25年第1四半期に前年同期比7%増となり、世界の成長率 (9%増) との差を縮めました。

南北アメリカ、欧州、中東・アフリカは依然として2桁台前半にとどまっています。政府の強力なバックアップを受け、TencentとAlibabaは2026年にかけてアジアの勢いを加速させる見通しです。

当レポートでは、世界のウェブスケール市場の動向を追跡調査し、主要事業者の収益、CAPEX、利益率の推移・予測、地域別の動向、主要企業の詳細分析、企業ベンチマーキングなどをまとめています。

調査対象：

WNOトップ8

その他のWNO

目次

第1章 レポートハイライト

第2章 展望

第3章 分析

第4章 主要統計

第5章 企業の詳細分析

第6章 企業ベンチマーキング

第7章 地域別内訳

第8章 生データ

第9章 為替レート

第10章 当社について

List of Figures and Charts

• 1. Key Metrics: Growth rates, Annualized 1Q25/1Q24 vs. 2021-24
• 2. WNO Revenues: Single-quarter & annualized (US$M)
• 3. Top 8 WNOs: YoY revenue growth in 1Q25
• 4. Annualized profitability: WNOs
• 5. Free cash flow per employee, 1Q25 annualized (US$)
• 6. FCF Margins vs. Net Margins, 1Q25 annualized
• 7. Advertising revenues as % total (FY2024)
• 8. Annualized capex and R&D spending: WNOs (% revenues)
• 9. WNO capex by type, Annualized: 1Q16-1Q25 (US$M)
• 10. Network & IT capex as share of revenues, 1Q25 annualized
• 11. R&D expenses as % revenues, Top 8 WNOs (1Q25 annualized)
• 12. Acquisition spending vs. capex spending, annualized (US$M)
• 13. Net PP&E per employee (US$' 000) - 1Q25
• 14. Ranking the Webscale Network Operators: Revenues; R&D; Capex; Network & IT capex - 2024 & 1Q25 (US$B)
• 15. Annualized spending share for key webscalers since 2011 Capex: Network, IT and software
• 16. Share of webscale spending by company, 1Q25 and 1Q24 annualized (Capex: Network, IT and software)
• 17. Energy consumption vs. Net PP&E for key webscalers in 2024
• 18. USA: Webscale capex total ($M) and % of global market, 2011-24
• 19. Webscale vs. Telco Market: Annualized Capex (US$B)
• 20. Webscale vs. Telco Market: Annualized capital intensity
• 21. Revenues: annual, single-quarter, and annualized (US$M)
• 22. Profitability (Net Profit; Cash from operations; Free cash flow): annual, single-quarter, and annualized (US$M)
• 23. Spending (R&D; M&A; Capex; Network & IT capex; Lease): annual, single-quarter, and annualized (US$M)
• 24. Cash & Short-term Investments: annual and single-quarter (US$M)
• 25. Debt (Total debt; Net debt): annual and single-quarter (US$M)
• 26. Property, Plant & Equipment: annual and single-quarter (US$M)
• 27. Key Ratios: Net margin; R&D/revenues; Capex/revenues; Network & IT capex/revenues; Free cash flow/revenues; Lease costs/revenues - annual and annualized (%)
• 28. Total employees
• 29. Revenue per employee, annualized (US$K)
• 30. FCF per employee, annualized (US$K)
• 31. Net PP&E per employee, annualized (US$K)
• 32. Revenues & Spending (US$M)
• 33. Revenues (US$M) & YoY revenue growth (%), single-quarter: by company
• 34. Revenues, annualized (US$M): by company
• 35. Annualized profitability margins: by company
• 36. Annualized capex and capital intensity: by company
• 37. Annualized capex and R&D spending as % of revenues: by company
• 38. Share of WNO network & IT capex, Annualized: by company
• 39. Total employees: by company
• 40. Annualized per-employee metrics (US$000s): by company
• 41. Net debt (debt minus cash & stock) (US$M): by company
• 42. Top 10 webscale employers in 1Q25: Global market
• 43. Headcount changes in 1Q25 (YoY %): Global market
• 44. Net PP&E: USA vs. RoW (by company)
• 45. Net PP&E: total in $M and % global webscale market (by company)
• 46. Energy consumption, MWh and % webscale total (by company)
• 47. Share of webscale energy consumption, net PP&E, and capex (by company)
• 48. Energy intensity relative to webscale average and select data center-focused CNNOs (by company)
• 49. Energy intensity in webscale sector, 2024: MWh consumed per $M in revenue
• 50. Capex/revenues (annualized): Company vs. Webscale average
• 51. Revenue per employee (US$000s) (annualized): Company vs. Webscale average
• 52. 2018 vs. 2024: company benchmark by KPI (Revenues, R&D, Net profit, Cash from operations, Capex, Free cash flow, Cash & short-term investments, Net PP&E, Total debt)
• 53. 2018 vs. 2024: company benchmark by key ratio (Capex/revenues; R&D/revenues; Net margin; FCF margin)
• 54. Top 8 WNO's share vs. Rest of the market: by KPI (Revenues, R&D, Net profit, Cash from operations, Capex, Free cash flow, Cash & short-term investments, Net PP&E, Total debt)
• 55. Top 8 WNOs benchmarking by Key ratio: Capex/revenues; R&D/revenues; Net margin; FCF margin)
• 56. Total WNO Market Revenues, by region: Latest CY; Latest Quarter; Annual trend (2011-24); Single quarter (1Q16-1Q25 )
• 57. WNO Market: Revenues, single-quarter (YoY % change)
• 58. Regional revenues by operator: Latest CY; Latest Quarter; Annual trend (2011-24); Single quarter (1Q16-1Q25)
• 59. Top 10 operators by region: Latest CY; Latest Quarter

If you believe this is a bubble fueled by IP theft, government subsidies, and hype, 1Q25 results will not reassure

Big tech's webscale buildout keeps breaking records. In 1Q25, the 22 companies in our Webscale Tracker, including new entrant CoreWeave, generated $652 billion (B) in revenue (+9.2% YoY), spent $97B on capex (+67.2%), poured $84B into R&D (+12.2%), and held $635B in cash (-3.6%) against $560B in debt (+1.3%). Net PP&E surged 32.9% YoY to nearly $1 trillion. Headcount hit 4.17M, flat YoY.

VISUALS

Revenue: Growth Concentrated in the Big Four

1Q25 revenue hit $651.6B (+9.2% YoY), pushing annualized sales to $2.65T. Coreweave and Yandex posted the fastest growth, but the heavy lifting came from Alphabet (annualized revenues up 13.1% vs. 2Q23-2Q24), Amazon (+10.1%), Meta (+19.4%), and Microsoft (+14.1%).

Amazon added the most dollars: up $12.4B YoY to $155.7B (+8.6%).

At the other end: Fujitsu's revenue dropped 18.7% as it retreats from cloud and data center services. Baidu, eBay, and IBM posted sub-2% growth.

Capex: AI Hype Sends Spending Soaring

Capex skyrocketed 67.2% YoY in 1Q25 to $96.6B, annualizing to $343B, up 65% from a year ago and setting another all-time high.

The AI frenzy, sparked by ChatGPT and fanned by investors, is now a dominant force. GPU spend is through the roof. US webscalers are spending like the proverbial drunken sailor, fueled by subsidies and hype, and enabled by what many view is widespread intellectual property theft.

Top 1Q25 capex outlays came from Amazon ($25.0B), Alphabet ($17.2B), Microsoft ($16.7B), and Meta ($12.9B. Together, that is 74% of the total.

Notably, 58% of annualized capex was for IT/network/software infrastructure (vs. 55% in 1Q24, 49% in 1Q23), showing a focus on retrofitting existing data centers for AI.

Profitability: Margins Under Pressure from Capex

Free cash flow margins dipped to 15.2% in 1Q25 (annualized), down from 18.9% a year earlier. Net profit margins averaged a healthy 20.7% over the last four quarters. Alphabet led with $34.5B in net income (+46% YoY), a political liability as antitrust scrutiny intensifies.

Meta, Microsoft, Tencent, and Apple topped the FCF leaderboard.

Amazon and Alibaba were mid-tier, while HPE and Baidu brought up the rear.

Debt vs. cash positions remain solid overall, but some players (Apple, Oracle, IBM, Coreweave) are deeply leveraged and vulnerable if the AI bubble bursts.

Employment: Flat Growth, Automation Looms

Webscale employment hit 4.17M, up just 0.2% YoY. Alibaba's 39% headcount drop (via Sun Art divestment) offset growth elsewhere.

Despite massive AI investment, workforce growth has plateaued since 2021. Automation and robotics are gaining ground, especially in logistics. We expect modest headcount gains in 2025, then a steady decline.

Regional Trends: Asia Rebounds

Asia-Pacific's drag is easing: regional revenue grew 7% YoY in 1Q25, narrowing the gap with global growth (+9%).

The Americas, Europe, and MEA remain in the low double-digit range. With strong government backing, Tencent and Alibaba are poised to accelerate Asia's momentum through 2026.

Research Coverage:

Top 8 WNOs

Other WNOs

Table of Contents

1. Report highlights

2. Outlook

3. Analysis

4. Key Stats

5. Company Drilldown

6. Company Benchmarking

7. Regional Breakouts

8. Raw Data

9. Exchange Rates

10. About