Update: An Amazon Web Services spokesperson released the following statement to CDN:
“It’s kind of a puzzler to us because vendors who understand doing business with enterprises respect NDAs with their customers and don’t imply competitive defection where it doesn’t exist.”
The original story continues below.
It’s not every day that direct competitors become customers of each other.
Several reports indicate that Google’s cloud data platform has snatched up Apple as a client – one that it competes with in all things mobile – and from Amazon Web Services (AWS) no less.
The report notes that this isn’t an exclusive deal – Apple continues to use several clouds including AWS and Microsoft Azure, but the shift to Google is seen as a move to diversify some $1 billion away from AWS.
The reports suggested that Google may have cut its smartphone and tablet rival a deal in order to secure its business in an attempt to gain market share. Currently Google sits fourth behind AWS, Microsoft Azure and even IBM SoftLayer despite having the second-highest growth rate.
Reports suggest that Apple could be spending between between $400 and $600 million for the year on Google’s cloud.
However, the investment may be short lived as Apple looks to build its own data centres. In addition to centres in Newark, Santa Clara and Cupertino, CA, and Maiden, North Carolina, it has prospects in Ireland and Vietnam.
Google previously wooed music streaming service Spotify to its cloud service, away from AWS.
