Spending on cloud infrastructure saw a significant surge in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24), with an increase of 61.5 percent, reaching $42.9 billion, according to IDC.
Shared cloud infrastructure led the charge, growing by 74.9 percent to $35.3 billion, accounting for the largest portion of total infrastructure spending. In contrast, dedicated cloud infrastructure grew by 19.2 percent year-over-year to $7.6 billion.
The non-cloud infrastructure segment saw robust growth, increasing by 41.4 percent to $19.4 billion in 2Q24. However, cloud infrastructure continues to dominate, with shared cloud infrastructure representing 56.6 percent of total spending for the quarter.
Growth in the cloud market is heavily driven by AI-related investments, especially in GPU server shipments, which have increased average selling prices. IDC’s research director, Juan Pablo Seminara, noted that these investments have also triggered a rise in enterprise storage spending.
Looking ahead, IDC forecasts cloud infrastructure spending to grow 48.8 percent in 2024, reaching $164.0 billion. Shared cloud infrastructure is expected to see a 57.9 percent rise, hitting $131.9 billion by year-end, while dedicated cloud infrastructure is set to grow by 20.4 percent to $32.1 billion.
Service providers remain the largest spenders, accounting for 67.2 percent of the market, with investments up 64.2 percent. IDC predicts service provider group will spend $157.8 billion on cloud infrastructure in 2024. Spending by non-service providers, including enterprises and governments, also grew significantly, rising by 38.2 percent to $20.5 billion.
Cloud infrastructure spending will experience an 18.1 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2028, reaching $253 billion. Shared cloud infrastructure will make up 78.6 percent of the total cloud spend by then, while non-cloud infrastructure will grow more modestly, with a 5.3 percent CAGR, reaching $78.3 billion in 2028.
Service providers are expected to increase their spending on compute and storage infrastructure at a 17.1 percent CAGR, reaching $233.0 billion by 2028, IDC projects.
