Compute this! Asia Chart of the Week

Research evidence excerpt

Compute this! Asia Chart of the Week

26 June 2026

Asia Chart of the Week EconomicsAsia

Compute this!

AI is booming…duh. But it’s worth thinking a bit more about the consequences

for Asia, and the world. We’ll leave the finer points about what it means for equity

markets to our strategists, of course. From an economic perspective, too, plenty

has been said already: HSBC’s Ines Lam just published a deep-dive on how the AI

hardware boom is rewiring Asian supply chains and ‘lifting more boats’ than just

the obvious ones, like Korea and Taiwan, and Paul Bloxham and Jamie Culling

have highlighted Australia’s booming data centre investment. More broadly, there

are two possibilities on how this boom for AI hardware demand unfolds. First, it

may be that investment, notably in the US, fizzles – say, because investor patience,

or the energy to light up the datacentres, run out. That’d be the end of it. Second, Frederic Neumann

Asia itself might join the frenzy in building datacentres and the infrastructure for Chief Asia Economist, Co-head Global Research Asia The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

AI, supercharging demand for years to come (one might ask: where is Europe in fredericneumann@hsbc.com.hk

+852 2822 4556

all of this? Well, on some projections, such as by EpochAI, a data compiler, it has

less than 2.5% of global AI computing power and will still only account for less Ines Lam Economist, Asia

than 3.5% by 2030). With Asia joining the fray, however, there would be a profound The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

ines.y.k.lam@hsbc.com.hk

shift in global capital allocation: rather than funds flowing from Asia to the US to +852 22887131

finance the AI build-out (plus the US budget deficit), the money would be needed at Jamie Culling

home.