AWS, Microsoft, Google’s Cloud Market Share Q1 2023

CRN breaks down AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud’s worldwide cloud services market share for Q1 2023.

Microsoft is narrowing the gap between itself and longtime cloud market share leader Amazon Web Services as Google continues to report stellar cloud services growth.

“There has been some angst about declining cloud growth rates, but the Q1 worldwide market value grew by more than $10 billion year over year,” said John Dinsdale, chief analyst at IT market research firm Synergy Research Group, who has released first quarter 2023 worldwide cloud market share data for cloud infrastructure services.

Dinsdale, in an email to CRN, said the relatively weak economy has caused some enterprises to review spending more closely on cloud services, but the market continues to increase despite those challenges.

“As the market continues to grow, Amazon, Microsoft and Google continue to account for a large share of cloud spending—their combined share stood at 65 percent in the first quarter,” he said. Microsoft and Google had a stronger year-on-year growth compared to AWS, resulting in both increasing their global market share by upwards of 1-percentage point year over year.

Cloud Services Market Q1 2023: $63 Billion

Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services reached $63.7 billion in first quarter 2023, according to data from Synergy Research Group. This represents total cloud computing services sales growth of 20 percent, or over $10 billion, year over year compared to first quarter 2022.

Sequentially, first quarter 2023 cloud services grew four percent compared to four quarter 2022. This shows that despite the economic climate which has constrained some growth in cloud spending for enterprises, the market continues to expand at a healthy rate.

“The law of large numbers pretty much dictates that growth rates must decline, but in absolute terms the market continues to grow at a healthy rate, driven by the fundamental benefits of cloud adoption,” said Dinsdale.

CRN breaks down Q1 2023 market share numbers from Amazon, led by Amazon Web Services (AWS); Google, which owns Google Cloud; and Microsoft as well as IBM, Alibaba, Salesforce and Oracle’s cloud market share.

No. 3: Google (Google Cloud)

Q1 2023 Market Share: 10 percent

Q1 2022 Market Share: 10 percent

Q1 2021 Market Share: 9 percent

Google Cloud continues to rank third in global cloud services market share, winning 10 percent share during the quarter. Synergy said Google increased its cloud share year over year, nearly growing 1-percentage point compared to first quarter 2022.

This week, Google Cloud reported Q1 2023 earnings of $7.5 billion, representing a whopping 28 percent growth rate year over year. The cloud unit of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google grew cloud sales at a faster clip compared to Microsoft and AWS during its first quarter 2023. Additionally, Google Cloud reported operating income of $191 million, marking the first time Google’s cloud business generated a profit in the company’s history.

No. 2: Microsoft

Q1 2023 Market Share: 23 percent

Q1 2022 Market Share: 22 percent

Q1 2021 Market Share: 20 percent

Microsoft continues to put the pressure on AWS in terms of leadership in the enterprise cloud services market. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant won 23 percent share of the worldwide cloud services market in Q1 2023, up from 22 percent share year over year.

Looking at Microsoft’s recent fiscal third quarter 2023 earnings results, the company’s Intelligent Cloud business generated $22.1 billion in sales, representing an increase of 16 percent year over year. Microsoft doesn’t break out sales figures for its public cloud Azure business, but instead, includes Azure revenue as part of its Intelligent Cloud segment.

No. 1: Amazon (AWS)

Q1 2023 Market Share: 32 percent

Q1 2022 Market Share: 33 percent

Q1 2021 Market Share: 32 percent

Amazon Web Services has been the worldwide leader in cloud services for years, typically hovering between 32 percent to 34 percent market share every quarter. AWS won 32 percent share of the global cloud services market in Q1 2023, down one percentage point year over year.

The cloud behemoth, a unit of Seattle-based tech giant Amazon, reported $21.4 billion in revenue during its first quarter 2023 earnings report this week, representing a sales increase of 16 percent year over year. AWS’ operating income for Q1 2023 was $5.1 billion, down from $6.5 billion year over year.

Market Share: IBM, Alibaba, Salesforce, Oracle

Q1 2023 Cloud Share For All Other Companies: 35 percent

Q1 2022 Cloud Share For All Other Companies: 35 percent

AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud combined to own 65 percent share of the worldwide cloud infrastructure services market. Several dozen other cloud computing companies accounted for approximately 35 percent of the remaining cloud market share in Q1 2023.

Following the big three cloud hyperscalers: Alibaba, IBM, Salesforce, Oracle and Tencent all won single-digit percentage share during Q1 2023.

Alibaba ranks fourth for cloud services share after winning 4 percent market share in Q1 2023.

IBM and Salesforce tied for fifth place in cloud services market share by both winning approximately 3 percent share.

Both Oracle and Tencent won approximately 2 percent share of the worldwide services market.

Other companies who have a market share of around 1 percent share include Baidu, China Telecom, China Unicom, Huawei, Fujitsu, NTT, Snowflake, SAP and Rackspace.