Cloud infrastructure services reach $84 billion in the third quarter of 2024, with a year-over-year growth of 23%.
The cloud market continues its trajectory of rapid expansion, with global spending on cloud infrastructure services hitting $84 billion in Q3 2024. This marks an increase of $15.7 billion, or 23%, compared to the same period last year, according to data from Synergy Research Group. Generative AI stands out as one of the main drivers of this growth, propelling the market in the last four consecutive quarters.
Despite some economic, currency, and political challenges, global interest in cloud services continues to grow at a remarkable pace. According to Synergy, the three giants of the sector—Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—remain in leading positions with market shares of 31%, 20%, and 13%, respectively. While Amazon continues to lead, Microsoft and Google showed higher year-over-year percentage growth in their revenues, with Google’s growth particularly notable in this last quarter.
Market Evolution and Consolidation Among Major Providers
Most of the revenue in the cloud market comes from public Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), which grew by 24% this quarter. In the public cloud space, the combined market share of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google is even more significant, reaching 68%.
In addition to these giants, other tier two providers such as Oracle, Huawei, Snowflake, and Cloudflare have experienced significant growth in the past year, strengthening competitiveness in a market that seems to have no ceiling.
We also cannot overlook European providers like OVHCloud, OasixCloud, Stackscale (Grupo Aire), Acens, among others.
Global Growth Driven by AI Demand
Geographically, the cloud market continues to grow across all regions, with the United States being the largest market, showing a 23% increase in the third quarter. However, in terms of year-over-year growth in local currency, countries like India, Japan, Brazil, and Italy surpassed the global average, reflecting strong and expanding demand in emerging and established markets.
The rapid advancement of generative AI is promoting a new wave of services geared towards this technology, creating a cycle of demand: new services drive cloud adoption, increasing revenues and enabling providers to reinvest in advanced technology to continue evolving. “In the last four quarters, the market has grown by almost $16 billion, compared to $10 billion in the previous cycle,” commented John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group. “Clearly, AI is a key factor in this acceleration. Cloud providers are capitalizing on new capabilities, which drives demand and, in turn, market growth.”
Changes in Microsoft Azure Revenue Classification
Synergy also highlighted a recent revision in how Microsoft Azure’s revenues are classified, reallocating some of this income to the SaaS segment rather than IaaS or PaaS. This adjustment reduces Microsoft’s market share in cloud infrastructure services but elevates its position in the SaaS market.
About Synergy Research Group
Synergy Research Group provides quarterly tracking and segmentation data on IT and cloud markets, including revenue by provider and region. Through its SIA™ platform and tools like Competitive Matrix™ and CustomView™, Synergy provides industry leaders with detailed insights for strategic decision-making.
Source: Synergy Research