Amazon has abandoned a planned data centre development in West Auckland, New Zealand, leading to a $44.9 million impairment related to the shelved project. The company recorded a pre-tax loss of $36 million for 2025 as a result.
The company’s total assets in New Zealand exceed $650 million despite this write-down. The value of equipment on Amazon’s books surged to over $250 million from about $5 million between December 2024 and December 2025. Lease assets climbed to approximately $285 million from roughly $244 million during the same period.
Amazon is shifting to a ‘lease-and-equip’ model in New Zealand. This strategy focuses on buying capacity and filling it rather than building new facilities from scratch. Assets under construction have dropped to zero.
In 2021, Amazon announced the data centre construction plan, which was expected to create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. It also claimed it would add about $10.8 billion to the local economy over the next 15 years.
Officials have not confirmed the reasons behind this decision. However, the scale of the write-down suggests significant strategic changes for Amazon in New Zealand.
