AI fuelled growth sees global cloud market hit US$330 billion in 2024

The global cloud infrastructure market reached US$330 billion in 2024, with artificial intelligence now powering half of the sector's expansion since the launch of ChatGPT.

Fourth-quarter spending on cloud services hit US$91 billion worldwide, marking a 22 per cent increase from the same period in 2023, new data from Synergy Research Group shows.

"Q4 was another strong quarter for cloud services, helping to drive a full-year growth rate that was a full four percentage points higher than 2023," John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group, said.

Emerging players in artificial intelligence services have seen remarkable growth.

CoreWeave, specialising in AI and GPU services, has broken into the top 20 cloud providers globally.

The United States continues to lead as the largest cloud market, with its size exceeding the entire Asia-Pacific region.

US cloud spending grew by 23 per cent in the fourth quarter.

In Europe, while the United Kingdom and Germany represent the largest markets, Ireland, Spain, and Italy demonstrated the highest growth rates.

Brazil, Spain, Italy, India, and Japan showed above-average growth when measured in local currencies, highlighting the global nature of cloud adoption.

The impact of generative AI on the cloud sector has been significant since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022, driving improvements to existing services and spurring development of new GPU-powered offerings.

Public infrastructure and platform services account for the majority of the market, growing by 24 per cent in the fourth quarter.

The top three providers - Amazon, Microsoft, and Google - now control 68 per cent of the public cloud segment.

Synergy's market share data for cloud providers in Q4 2024:

• Amazon dominates the cloud infrastructure market with 30 per cent share, maintaining its position as the largest provider globally.
• Microsoft holds second place with 21 per cent of the market, strengthening its position in the enterprise cloud segment.
• Google commands 12 per cent of global cloud infrastructure spending, continuing its focus on AI and machine learning capabilities.
• Chinese tech giant Alibaba maintains 4 per cent of the worldwide market, leading the Asian cloud sector.
• Oracle captures 3 per cent of global cloud spending, showing growth in enterprise solutions and database services.
• Three providers - Salesforce, IBM, and Tencent - each hold 2 per cent of the market, specialising in different aspects of cloud services.
• Several companies maintain 1 per cent market share each, including emerging AI specialist CoreWeave, data platform provider Snowflake, and established technology firms like Fujitsu and VMware.
• Regional telecoms providers China Telecom, China Unicom, and NTT also maintain 1 per cent market share each, serving their respective geographical markets.
• Enterprise software providers SAP and Akamai, along with Chinese tech company Baidu and data analytics firm Databricks, round out the 1 per cent market share holders.