The global cloud market continues its strong momentum, with enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services hitting $84 billion in Q3, according to new data from Synergy Research Group. This represents a significant year-on-year increase of $15.7 billion, or 23%, compared to the third quarter of 2023. After experiencing a slowdown in growth throughout 2023, this is the fourth consecutive quarter of accelerated growth, with generative AI playing a pivotal role in driving the surge.
Despite ongoing challenges such as economic fluctuations, currency variations, and political uncertainties, the fundamental strength of the cloud market is undeniable. This has contributed to a consistent rise in cloud services spending to record levels.
Amazon leads in market share
Amazon continues to hold a dominant position in the market, with a global market share of 31%, followed by Microsoft at 20%, and Google at 13%. While Amazon maintains its leadership, Microsoft and Google have seen higher growth percentages. All three companies have reported growth rate improvements compared to the same period last year, with particularly notable increases at Amazon and Google.
For tier-two cloud providers, notable year-on-year growth has been observed in companies such as Oracle, Huawei, Snowflake, and Cloudflare.
As per Synergy Research, the total revenue from cloud infrastructure services, which includes IaaS, PaaS, and hosted private cloud services, reached $83.8 billion in Q3, pushing trailing twelve-month revenues to $313 billion. Public IaaS and PaaS services were the largest contributors, growing by 24% in Q3. The top three cloud providers dominate the public cloud segment, accounting for 68% of the market.
The United States accounts for 23% of the cloud market
Geographically, cloud market growth remains strong across all regions. Countries like India, Japan, Brazil, and Italy have seen growth rates surpassing the global average. The United States remains the largest cloud market surpassing the APAC region, growing by 23% in Q3, while markets in Europe, particularly Ireland, Italy, and Spain, have also experienced rapid expansion.
“Over the last four quarters the market has grown by almost $16 billion, while over the previous four quarters the respective figure was $10 billion. Given the already massive size of the market, we are seeing an impressive surge in growth,” said John Dinsdale, a Chief Analyst at Synergy Research Group. “While some market headwinds have diminished, it is undoubtedly AI that is a prime factor behind this increased growth rate. New AI-oriented services and technology are helping the major cloud providers to ride a wave – new capabilities lead to increased demand, which leads to increased revenues, which then enables more investment in underlying technologies.”
The continued growth of the cloud market underscores its central role in the digital transformation of businesses worldwide, with AI continuing to accelerate its expansion.
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