Cloud market share Q4 2023 results: AWS falls as Microsoft grows
Here are the cloud market share results for fourth-quarter 2023 for the top five leaders—AWS, Alibaba, Google Cloud, Microsoft and Salesforce—as spending ballooned to $74bn
Amazon Web Services' stronghold over the global cloud market is showing some vulnerability as AWS' cloud market share dropped two points, while Microsoft's cloud share increased by nearly two points year-over-year during fourth-quarter 2023.
Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services reached $73.7bn in fourth-quarter 2023, representing a 20 per cent increase compared with $61.6bn in fourth-quarter 2022, according to new data from IT market research firm Synergy Research Group.
"This was a banner quarter for the cloud market," said John Dinsdale, vice president and chief analyst for Synergy, in an email to CRN US. "As the market continues to grow strongly, Amazon, Microsoft and Google still account for a large share of cloud spending—their combined share stood at 67 per cent in Q4. Microsoft had reason to be very satisfied, as its market share increased by almost two full percentage points to reach a new high."
Dinsdale said that Google's share "moved higher while Amazon nudged down."
"Amazon remains far ahead of Microsoft, but the gap is closing," he said.
CRN US takes a look at the top five cloud market share leaders of Q4 2023, featuring Alibaba, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Salesforce.
Cloud spending hits $270bn In 2023; record Q4 thanks to AI
Before jumping into the exact market share figures for Alibaba, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Salesforce, it is key to know that Q4 2023 was an exceptionally strong quarter for cloud providers as demand from customers surged.
"The last quarter of the year usually benefits from a seasonal bounce with quarterly spending increasing much more than in the first three quarters, but this quarter set a record. Q4 spending jumped by $5.6bn from the previous quarter, representing by far the biggest sequential increase the cloud market has ever achieved," said Dinsdale.
In 2023, worldwide enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services hit approximately $270bn, an increase of 19 per cent compared with 2022.
"While economic, currency and political headwinds have diminished somewhat, it is clear that generative AI technology and services have had a major impact, helping to further boost cloud spending," Dinsdale said. "Generative AI is clearly one of the main reasons for the strong performance, as the technology is embraced by cloud providers and enterprises alike."
Here are the top five worldwide cloud market-share leaders in fourth-quarter 2023.
Highlights
