Amazon Maintains Cloud Lead as Microsoft Edges Closer

Having established itself as an early leader in the market for cloud infrastructure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the online retailer’s profitable cloud platform, is still ahead of the pack. According to estimates from Synergy Research Group, Amazon’s market share in the worldwide cloud infrastructure market amounted to 31 percent in the first quarter of 2024, down from 32 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, Amazon's main rival Microsoft slowly edges closer, growing the market share of its Azure platform to an all-time high of 25 percent in Q1 2024. Combined with Google at 11 percent market share, the "Big Three" now account for two thirds of the ever-growing cloud market, with the rest of the competition stuck in the low single digits.

In Q1 2024, global cloud infrastructure service spending grew $13.5 billion or 21 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023, bringing total spending to over $76 billion for the three months ended March 31. Looking at the full year, the market is now at a $300-billion revenue run rate, explaining why the it is so fiercely contested. Despite its size, the cloud market is still growing strongly, with year-over-year growth even re-accelerating for the second consecutive quarter.

"In terms of annualized run rate we now have a $300-billion market which is growing at 21 percent per year," John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group said. "We will not return to the growth rates seen prior to 2022, as the market has become too massive to grow that rapidly, but we will see the market continue to expand substantially. We are forecasting that it will double in size over the next four years."