AWS hits $100 billion annual run rate

AWS segment sales increased 17% year-over-year to $25.0 billion. Amazon's quarterly financial report also reveals that AWS segment operating income for Q1 2024 was $9.4 billion, compared with operating income of $5.1 billion in first quarter 2023.

“It was a good start to the year across the business, and you can see that in both our customer experience improvements and financial results,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon President and CEO. “The combination of companies renewing their infrastructure modernization efforts and the appeal of AWS’s AI capabilities is reaccelerating AWS’s growth rate (now at a $100 billion annual revenue run rate)."

Some operational updates for AWS:

• Siemens is integrating Amazon Bedrock into its low-code development platform Mendix to allow thousands of companies across multiple industries to create and upgrade applications with the power of generative AI.
• Philips is using AWS HealthImaging and Amazon Bedrock to scale digital pathology, helping labs and healthcare organizations improve diagnostics, increase productivity, accelerate research, and address complex medical cases, like cancer care.
• Accenture and Anthropic are collaborating with AWS to help organizations—especially those in highly-regulated industries like healthcare, public sector, banking, and insurance—responsibly adopt and scale generative AI technology with Amazon Bedrock. This collaboration will help organizations like the District of Columbia Department of Health speed innovation, improve customer service, and improve productivity, while keeping data private and secure.
• BT Group, a multinational communications company, provided Amazon Q Developer to 1,200 of its engineers, generating more than 100,000 lines of code in its first four months and automating approximately 12% of the repetitive and time-consuming work done by software engineers using the platform.
• During Q1, AWS disclosed plans to launch new infrastructure Regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in Mexico, which will give developers, startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprises greater choice for running their applications and serving end users. As part of AWS’s long-term commitment, it is planning to invest more than $5.3 billion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and more than $5 billion in Mexico over the next several years.
• A planned investment of $10 billion to build two data center complexes in Mississippi. This investment, which is the single largest capital investment in the state’s history, will create at least 1,000 jobs and support new educational trainings in the state.
• The general availability of new AWS Local Zones in Atlanta, Chicago, and Houston. In Atlanta, AWS Local Zones support EC2 P5 instances, which deliver the highest performance for deep learning and high-performance computing applications.
• Announced that AWS began waiving charges for data transfer out to the internet (DTO) to give customers choice if they want to migrate their data outside of AWS. The waiver on DTO charges is available to all AWS customers around the world and from any AWS Region.

https://ir.aboutamazon.com/news-release/news-release-details/2024/Amazon.com-Announces-First-Quarter-Results-68b9258cd/

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AMD sees a big jump in AI and data center revenues

AMD reported Q1 2024 revenue of $5.5 billion, up 2% year-over-year, gross margin of 47%, operating income of $36 million, net income of $123 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.07. 

“We delivered strong first quarter results with our Data Center and Client segments each growing more than 80% year-over-year driven by the ramp of MI300 AI accelerator shipments and the adoption of our Ryzen and EPYC processors,” said AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. “This is an incredibly exciting time for the industry as widespread deployment of AI is driving demand for significantly more compute across a broad range of markets. We are executing very well as we ramp our data center business and enable AI capabilities across our product portfolio.”

“AMD started the year strong, delivering record quarterly Data Center segment revenue,” said AMD EVP, CFO and Treasurer Jean Hu. “In addition, we drove solid gross margin expansion. Moving forward, we are well positioned to continue driving revenue growth and margin improvement while investing in the large AI opportunities ahead.”

Segment Summary

• Record Data Center segment revenue of $2.3 billion was up 80% year-over-year driven by growth in both AMD Instinct™ GPUs and 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ CPUs. Revenue increased 2% sequentially driven by the first full quarter of AMD Instinct GPU sales, partially offset by a seasonal decline in server CPU sales.
• Client segment revenue was $1.4 billion, up 85% year-over-year driven primarily by AMD Ryzen™ 8000 Series processor sales. Revenue decreased 6% sequentially.
• Gaming segment revenue was $922 million, down 48% year-over-year and 33% sequentially due to a decrease in semi-custom revenue and lower AMD Radeon™ GPU sales.
• Embedded segment revenue was $846 million, down 46% year-over-year and 20% sequentially as customers continued to manage their inventory levels.

https://ir.amd.com/news-events/ir-calendar/detail/6953/amd-fiscal-first-quarter-2024-financial-results

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Vocus teams with Google on Australia-to-U.S. subsea capacity

 Vocus, a prominent digital infrastructure operator in Australia, has forged an agreement with Google to deploy cutting-edge submarine cable systems, linking Australia and the United States across the south Pacific. This collaboration marks a significant stride in their partnership, solidifying and expanding upon the Pacific Connect initiative, which aims to enhance digital connectivity in the region. 

The Honomoana cable system, as part of this agreement, will extend to Auckland, New Zealand, facilitating dual Australian landings in Melbourne and Sydney. This expansion not only establishes a new domestic route between Sydney and Melbourne but also introduces the first diverse route across the Tasman Sea, capable of delivering up to 30Tbps of capacity between Australia and New Zealand.

Key Points:

• The agreement between Vocus and Google aims to bolster digital infrastructure, spanning from South-East Asia to the US, with multiple landings in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific.
• The Pacific Connect initiative will elevate trans-Tasman data capacity with the addition of a new landing in Auckland, complementing existing networks and offering unprecedented capacity and redundancy.
• The Sydney to Melbourne route will provide customers with an additional redundant pathway on Australia’s east coast, enhancing network resilience alongside existing terrestrial routes.
• A core component of the Pacific Connect initiative involves establishing a trans-Pacific subsea ring connecting Australia and the US, with pre-positioned branching units to enable future connections for other Pacific nations.
• The agreement grants Vocus access to dark fibre across the Pacific Connect system, initially providing up to 30Tbps of capacity upon its completion in 2026, with provisions for future capacity expansion as demand grows.
• Vocus' existing infrastructure includes the Australia Singapore Cable, North West Cable System, Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore Cable, and Australia's second-largest intercapital fibre backbone network, further underlining its commitment to enhancing digital connectivity in the region.

https://www.vocus.com.au/news/vocus-and-google-sign-contracts-to-deliver-pacific-connect

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STACK Infras plans new 220MW data center campus in Dallas

STACK Infrastructure unveiled plans to develop a 220MW campus south of Dallas, Texas. 

The campus spans over 100 acres and is strategically engineered to accommodate both shell and turnkey deployments, providing scalability and dedicated power in response to the escalating demand for infrastructure supporting the growth of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other emerging technologies. 

The new 220MW campus is strategically situated within the major development cluster of south Dallas, a rapidly growing market favored by developers and providers alike. Spanning 1.5 million square feet across six 36MW data centers, the campus has a planned delivery of mid-2026 and features committed power from utility provider ONCOR via a dedicated substation. Designed with a future-proof approach, the AI-Ready campus offers adaptability and flexibility, including a range of cooling solutions, to seamlessly accommodate the ever-evolving technological landscape. 

“We continue to observe a steady demand for powered, large-scale campuses, particularly in established or growing markets,” said Ty Miller, Chief Commercial Officer, STACK Americas. “This latest announcement reinforces our commitment to providing certainty and scalability for our clients, along with a favorable delivery target of mid-2026.” 

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Vertical Systems: 2023 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD

Vertical Systems Group announces that seven companies achieved a rank on the year-end 2023 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD as follows (in order based on retail port share): Colt (U.K.), Orange Business (France), Verizon (U.S.), AT&T (U.S.), BT Global (U.K.), NTT (Japan), and Cirion (Argentina). This industry benchmark for multinational Ethernet network market presence ranks companies that hold a 4% or higher share of billable retail ports at sites outside of their respective home countries.

Eight companies attained a 2023 Challenge Tier citation (in alphabetical order): Cogent (U.S.), GCX [formerly Global Cloud Xchange] (India), GTT (U.S.), SingTel (Singapore), T-Systems (Germany), Tata Communications (India), Telefonica (Spain), and Vodafone (U.K.). The Challenge Tier includes companies with share between 2% and 4% of this defined market.

“The geographic expansion of the Global Ethernet market continued in 2023, while several key domestic markets flattened,” said Rick Malone, Principal of Vertical Systems Group. “Colt ascended to the top rank in our Global Provider segment following key acquisitions and market growth beyond its Pan-European base.”

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Arelion opens PoP at Flexential's Tampa - North Site

Arelion has deployed a fully diverse Point-of-Presence (PoP) at Flexential's Tampa – North data center, supporting business growth in South Florida's regional edge markets by providing Arelion's full portfolio of IP and optical transport services to wholesale and enterprise customers. 

Flexential's Tampa – North data center serves Florida's high-tech corridor, offering secure connectivity, colocation, cloud and data protection services. The 60,000 square foot data center facility features 3 megawatts of critical power and sustainable cooling capabilities, enabling Flexential to support the compute-intensive solutions of Florida's flourishing business communities.

"Arelion's new PoP at Flexential's Tampa North site reinforces our investment in the Florida peninsula, helping us provide reliable connectivity at scale to enterprise and wholesale customers for continued technological innovation," said Art Kazmierczak, Director of Strategic Sales and Network Development at Arelion. "Flexential is an excellent partner for this PoP as its data center is well-equipped with the space, power and capabilities our customers need to accelerate business growth in Florida's developing edge markets."

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A10 Networks reports Q1 revenue of $60.7 million, up 5.2% yoy

A10 Networks reported Q1 revenue of $60.7 million, in-line with expectations and up 5.2% year-over-year. Non-GAAP net income was $12.7 million (21.0% of revenue), or $0.17 per diluted share (non-GAAP EPS) compared to non-GAAP net income of $9.9 million (17.2% of revenue) or $0.13 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2023.

“A10 continued to successfully navigate market volatility, as our diversification enabled us to address near-term Service Provider fluctuations, delivering solid first quarter results in-line with expectations,” said Dhrupad Trivedi, President and Chief Executive Officer of A10 Networks. “Our service provider customers are committed to improving network throughput and security, and A10’s solutions are designed into long-term initiatives that help them achieve their mission critical goals. When investments are made, we benefit, as we did in this quarter. The economic environment remains somewhat unpredictable and the first quarter represents an encouraging data point.”

“Recent and ongoing investments to better position A10 to target the evolving needs of the enterprise market are beginning to show results,” continued Trivedi. “Deferred revenue grew faster in Q1 than overall revenue, representative of the buying behavior of the enterprise customer base. We believe enterprise revenue will continue to grow throughout the year based on active pipeline and customer engagements. Security solutions continue to be in demand, and security solutions were 61% of A10’s consolidated revenue, in line with our long-term strategic goal. Simultaneously, we have continued to invest in R&D to address the evolving needs of our customers including AI solutions.”

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