Why It's Too Late for Google Cloud to Overtake Microsoft Azure
December 07, 2020
Beth Kindig
Lead Tech Analyst
In our latest Forbes report, we discuss why Google (Alphabet) may have missed a critical window this year for the infrastructure piece. We also analyze how Microsoft directed all of its efforts to successfully close the wide lead by AWS. Lastly, we look at how all three companies will bring the battle to the edge in an effort to maintain market share in this secular and fiercely competitive category.
Google Cloud grew two percentage points from 5% to 7% since 2018 while Azure grew four percentage points from 15% to 19% in the same period. In the past year, Google Cloud saw a 1% gain compared to Azure’s 2% gain, according to Canalys.
Azure is under Intelligent Cloud but the company does break down the growth rate which was 48%. Although Google Cloud Is not specifically broken down, the Google Cloud segment grew 45% year-over-year compared to Microsoft Azure up 48% year-over-year.
Amazon Web Services is growing at 29%, which is substantial considering the law of large numbers. In the past two quarters, Google Cloud reported 43% year-over-year growth and 52% in the quarter before that. Microsoft has seen a slightly less deceleration from 51% and this is down from the 80%-range almost two years ago.
The key thing here is that when Microsoft held the percentage of market share that GCP currently holds, Azure was growing in the 80-90% range. This is the range we should be seeing from Google Cloud if the company expects to catch up to Azure.
In 2020, the term “digital transformation” has become a buzzword with cloud companies seeing up to six years of acceleration. Nvidia is a bellwether for this with triple-digit growth in the data center segment in both Q2 and Q3. Despite this catalyst, Google has lagged the category in Q2 and Q3 in terms of both growth and percentage share of market. If there were any year that Google Cloud could pull ahead, it should have been this year.
Alphabet has emphasized that GCP is a priority and the company will be “aggressively investing” in the necessary capex. However, the window of opportunity was wide open this year and aggressive investments would ideally have been allocated during the years of 2017-2018 to stave off Azure’s high-growth years with 80-90%.
This analysis is about the infrastructure, not software. Perhaps there will be a catalyst in the future for Google Cloud to take more share but the strategy is not evident at this time.
Gains of up to 403% from our Free Newsletter.
Here are sample stock gains from the I/O Fund’s newsletter --- produced weekly and all for free!
+344% on Nvidia
+403% on Bitcoin
+218% on Roku
*as of March 15, 2022
Our newsletter provides an edge in the world’s most valuable industry – technology. Due to the enormous gains from this particular industry, we think it’s essential that every stock investor have a credible source who specializes in tech. Subscribe for Free Weekly Analysis on the Best Tech Stocks.
If you are a more serious investor, we have a premium service that offers lower entries and real-time trade alerts. Sample returns on the premium site include 324% on Zoom, 601% on Nvidia, 445% on Bitcoin, and 4-digits on an alt-coin. The I/O Fund is audited annually to prove it’s one of the best performing Funds on the market with returns that beat Wall Street funds.
More To Explore
Newsletter
Evidence is Building for an Uptrend - Broad Market Analysis
In this last week’s Broad Market Analysis, Knox reviews the evidence building the current uptrend that could extend into Fall 2022. Watch the preview clips taken from I/O Fund’s 1-hour Premium Technic
Big Tech Earnings: Microsoft And Alphabet Signal Q2 Could Be A Bottom
Big Tech earnings were off to a solid start last week when Microsoft and Google reported stable revenue growth and margins that are unchanged from recent macro conditions. The strong margins were espe
Are We Finally Out of the Bear Market?
Knox continues the Bear Market correction discussion and analyzes FAANG stocks and three other premium stock positions. Watch this clip taken from the 1-hour technical stock analysis below for upcomin
Netflix Stock Stronger Than It Seems Following Q2 Earnings
Netflix is trading at a 10-year historic low valuation, which means this is an opportune time to discuss the pros and cons of this stock should there be upside potential.
Ad Tech Stock Valuations Historically Low - Q3 2022 Earnings
Beth Kindig looks back at Facebook ($META), the ultimate ad-tech stock between 2012-2018 to answer three important ad tech stock valuation questions.
I/O Fund in the Media: Semiconductor Stocks, CHIPS Act, and Why We are Bullish on Bitcoin
Lead Tech Analyst Beth Kindig joins Charles Payne of Fox Business news to discuss the $52B CHIPS Act, FABS Act, opportunities in tech that may be overlooked, and why I/O Fund is bullish on Bitcoin rig
Broad Market Analysis: The Bear Market Correction by Knox Ridley
Knox Ridley covers the Bear Market correction in this week’s Premium Stock Market Webinar. He discusses his technical analysis of six premium portfolio stock positions that only paid subscribers can a
Apple Vs. The FAANGs (Technical Analysis)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) became the most valuable company in the world through creating and dominating the smart phone/mobile microtrend. As the majority of the global community went from zero smart p
Apple Is Tech’s Best Value Stock
Apple epitomizes what it means to be both a good value stock and a good tech stock with its strong margins, outsized cash flows, stable balance sheet, and a loyal base of customers supporting the bran
I/O Fund’s Current View on Bitcoin
In August of 2019 we released our first premium report on Bitcoin. At the time, Bitcoin was trading between $10,000-$11,000, following a bounce greater than 200% in less than a year. We believed Bitco