Financial research concept

Data Center Sellable Cabinets Under Construction: Retail Capacity Being Added

Data center sellable cabinets under construction measure future retail colocation cabinets expected from active projects, helping investors assess near-term physical capacity additions.

By Lee BaileyPublished Sep 20, 2026
Research context

See what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.

Research date
Sep 20, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
Operating-model context
12 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Data Center Operating Model; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
Company examples
1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.
  1. Cabinets translate construction into customer-facing retail capacity
  2. Construction cabinets are not yet billed cabinets
  3. Retail cabinets and hyperscale megawatts are different units
  4. Primary-source examples
  5. Part of the Data Center Operating Model
  6. See It in Company Research
  7. Continue Research

Data center sellable cabinets under construction measure the cabinet capacity expected from active retail-colocation development projects under the issuer's stated project scope.

It is a retail physical-development measure, not billed cabinet utilization.

Cabinets translate construction into customer-facing retail capacity

Equinix disclosed 52 active major development projects across 35 metros as of January 2026 and expected those projects to deliver more than 55,000 cabinets of retail capacity through 2028, alongside more than 100 megawatts of xScale capacity.

Its 2025 Form 10-K also presents significant IBX projects under construction with target open dates, sellable cabinets, and expected capital expenditure.

That gives investors a direct bridge between development spending and potential future retail inventory.

Construction cabinets are not yet billed cabinets

A cabinet can be planned, under construction, available for sale, installed, or billed.

Those stages should not be collapsed into one utilization measure.

Data Center Cabinet Utilization measures billed cabinet space relative to total cabinet capacity, while sellable cabinets under construction describe future supply.

Retail cabinets and hyperscale megawatts are different units

Equinix uses cabinets for much of its IBX retail-colocation capacity and megawatts for xScale hyperscale capacity.

Investors should preserve those product differences instead of converting them into a false standardized unit.

Primary-source examples

Data center sellable cabinets under construction are most useful as a retail development-capacity measure. Read them with cabinet utilization, project capex, opening schedules, and regional demand.

Part of the Data Center Operating Model

Connect bookings, in-place rent, utilization, interconnection, renewal pricing, signed-not-commenced backlog, development capacity, pre-leasing, future buildable capacity, stabilized yield, construction cabinets, and commencement timing to understand data-center growth economics.

How the model fits together
  • Capacity and recurring monetization: Cabinet utilization shows how much Equinix cabinet capacity is billed. Digital Realty annualized rent and Equinix interconnection revenue are separate recurring-revenue lenses, so they add monetization context without forming a standardized cross-company formula.
  • Bookings, backlog, and repricing: Equinix Annualized Gross Bookings capture near-term recurring revenue expected to start within 90 days, while Digital Realty signed-not-commenced backlog captures future annualized GAAP base rent awaiting lease commencement. Renewal rental-rate change then shows repricing on expiring Digital Realty leases. These measures describe different stages and must not be treated as interchangeable.
  • Development capacity and lease conversion: Capacity under construction and sellable cabinets under construction show near-term supply being built, while future development capacity shows longer-dated buildable runway. Pre-leased development percentage shows how much construction is already spoken for, estimated stabilized development yield frames expected economics at maturity, and signed-lease commencement lag shows how quickly bookings convert into in-place rent. These issuer-defined measures add development and lease-conversion context rather than forming a standardized cross-company formula.

See It in Company Research

These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.

Continue Research

Continue from the concept into the Grizzly Bulls research surface that best matches the next question. These links are research continuations, not recommendations or required steps.

Compare stocks

Compare data-center operators

Continue into stock comparison for development capacity, pre-leasing, backlog, rent, utilization, interconnection, capital intensity, and valuation context.

Continue research

Explore more topics in the Financial Research Encyclopedia.