iCloud nets 85M subscribers as sign-ups outpace device sales

Posted:
in iCloud edited January 2014


During Tuesday's earning conference call, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook referred to iCloud as an integral part of the company's future after the cloud storage and syncing service saw an almost overwhelming adoption rate of over 85 million users.



Following a rocky beginning, Apple's iCloud has seen incredible growth, and the number of new subscribers added during the three months ending in December outnumbered the combined sales of Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods.



"iCloud is off to a great start with more than 85 million customers signed up as of today," said Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer. "With iCloud, customers can store their music and photos and documents and keep their personal information and content in sync across all their devices, automatically and seamlessly."



The massive numbers are not solely customers who sign up after purchasing a new product, but also includes those who have transferred old MobileMe accounts to the new cloud service.



Unlike Apple's previous attempts at centralized storage and online management systems seen in .Mac and subsequently MobileMe, iCloud is free and offers a much more comprehensive and seamless user experience. With .Mac and MobileMe, users had to sync data manually, pay for storage and deal with a sometimes clunky interface, which could explain why iCloud is enjoying such success.



"It was a fundamental shift recognizing that people had numerous devices and they wanted the bulk of their content in the cloud, and easily accessible from all the devices," Cook said.











When the service launched in October 2011 alongside iOS 5, users were granted access to seamless syncing of emails, calendars, contacts as well as cloud storage for all their Apple devices. At the time, one analyst said that iCloud was the most important Apple service since iTunes, and guessed that it would one day lead to gadgets "we haven't thought of yet."



It remains to be seen what devices Apple has planned in their product pipeline, but Cook is clear as to how important iCloud is to the company's future.



"It's just not a product. It's a strategy for the next decade," Cook said.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 51
    When Slappy is done Slapping Slappy over Apples super quarter performance, he will make iCloud into a dark raincloud !
  • Reply 2 of 51
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Is iCloud US only or Global? (I'm using US account so I have no way to know)
  • Reply 3 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Is iCloud US only or Global? (I'm using US account so I have no way to know)



    Works for me is Australia



    I think they are progressively rolling it out.
  • Reply 4 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Is iCloud US only or Global? (I'm using US account so I have no way to know)



    Once iOS5 was released, I have migrated from MobileMe to iCloud. Though interestingly I still use my MobileMe account to login...
  • Reply 5 of 51
    I live in Thailand. It's been available here from the beginning.
  • Reply 6 of 51
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Is iCloud US only or Global? (I'm using US account so I have no way to know)



    Since iCloud is synching the users personal data, documents and image, there were no legal restrictions to rolling it out worldwide, nor were there any language requirements which limit the rollout of Siri. Only Apple's server capacities were a limit. Think of Gmail which also was a worldwide product from day one (if you exclude the US cellphone number requirement that it had a the very beginning if you did not have an invitation).



    iTunes Match (as well as similar things like Amazon's music cloud locker) do have to content with legal issues. Though while Amazon's service is still limited to the US (or at least NA), Apple has been very agressive in adding new countries to iTunes Match.
  • Reply 7 of 51
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spiced View Post


    Once iOS5 was released, I have migrated from MobileMe to iCloud. Though interestingly I still use my MobileMe account to login...



    You are supposed to be able to change that to your Apple ID. I have seen an option to that effect.
  • Reply 8 of 51
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spiced View Post


    Once iOS5 was released, I have migrated from MobileMe to iCloud. Though interestingly I still use my MobileMe account to login...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TBell View Post


    You are supposed to be able to change that to your Apple ID. I have seen an option to that effect.



    If it was already an AppleID ([email protected]) you didn't need to do anything, only move over to iCloud. Because I still use iDisk and Gallery (because of its easy integration with Aperture) I need to log into both sites. The me.com site allows you to logon with just your username. With iCloud.com you need to enter your full email address. But I digress.



    Certainly hope they will bring iDisk and Galleries to iCloud. Others want Keychains as well.
  • Reply 9 of 51
    BUT...I don't use it for anything other than a secondary back up to my local iPhone backup.
  • Reply 10 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post


    If it was already an AppleID ([email protected]) you didn't need to do anything, only move over to iCloud. Because I still use iDisk and Gallery (because of its easy integration with Aperture) I need to log into both sites. The me.com site allows you to logon with just your username. With iCloud.com you need to enter your full email address. But I digress.



    Or in other words, your AppleID/iCloud login is simply an email address. It defaults to your MobileMe email address when moving over.
  • Reply 11 of 51
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blacklight View Post


    I live in Thailand. It's been available here from the beginning.



    Really? There's even no Apple store in Thailand.
  • Reply 12 of 51
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by noirdesir View Post


    Since iCloud is synching the users personal data, documents and image, there were no legal restrictions to rolling it out worldwide, nor were there any language requirements which limit the rollout of Siri. Only Apple's server capacities were a limit. Think of Gmail which also was a worldwide product from day one (if you exclude the US cellphone number requirement that it had a the very beginning if you did not have an invitation).



    iTunes Match (as well as similar things like Amazon's music cloud locker) do have to content with legal issues. Though while Amazon's service is still limited to the US (or at least NA), Apple has been very agressive in adding new countries to iTunes Match.



    I see. Thanks for clearing it up.
  • Reply 13 of 51
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lamewing View Post


    BUT...I don't use it for anything other than a secondary back up to my local iPhone backup.



    Yeah, back up is great, Photostream not so much (can not delete a single photo). But they should revive iDisk. If SJ thought Dropbox is just a feature then gives us that damn feature.
  • Reply 14 of 51
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Yeah, back up is great, Photostream not so much (can not delete a single photo). But they should revive iDisk. If SJ thought Dropbox is just a feature then gives us that damn feature.



    No doubt. A Dropbox like feature would be cool, but we still have dropbox.



    And photostream should have that ability after the next update. Should have been done from the beginning. I have it off on all my devices until then (got tired of seeing a picture of kids toys and shoes my wife took for eBay).
  • Reply 15 of 51
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    Is iCloud US only or Global? (I'm using US account so I have no way to know)



    some features are US only, or at least select counties, like the iTunes stuff. But the syncing of contacts, calendars etc is global



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spiced View Post


    Once iOS5 was released, I have migrated from MobileMe to iCloud. Though interestingly I still use my MobileMe account to login...



    Not exactly. Your MobileMe email address and connected password are an Apple ID and you use that same ID for iCloud.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TBell View Post


    You are supposed to be able to change that to your Apple ID. I have seen an option to that effect.



    Yes and no. If you have an email that has never been in apple's ID system you can swap an Apple ID email for the new one. So like I have [email protected] but I don't use that email anymore and just got a gmail address. I can swap out the aol for [email protected] as my username. BUT. I can't swap [email protected] or [email protected] for that aol because those were set up as Apple IDs as soon as I signed up for .mac/mobileme and you can't merge apple ids.
  • Reply 16 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thegreatbosan View Post


    When Slappy is done Slapping Slappy over Apples super quarter performance, he will make iCloud into a dark raincloud !



    Just ask the chair throwing M$ CEO, he will tell you exactly why this is just a hilarious rounding error.
  • Reply 17 of 51
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    BUT. I can't swap [email protected] or [email protected] for that aol because those were set up as Apple IDs as soon as I signed up for .mac/mobileme and you can't merge apple ids.



    This really needs a solution.
  • Reply 18 of 51
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spiced View Post


    Once iOS5 was released, I have migrated from MobileMe to iCloud. Though interestingly I still use my MobileMe account to login...



    I'm on iOS 5 with all my devices with one MBP on Lion and use MobileMe/iDisk/back to my Mac, but that is about it. I don't use their web site, photos, or mail. I have not switched to iCloud and from what I recall reading there is no upside for my purposes. I have all the iWork apps but I just use them as migration tools to and from Office documents for my Windows clients. 90% of my work is in CS and assorted programming tools. I really don't know why I would need iCloud but I guess I will have to convert eventually otherwise I will lose my 'back to my mac' once MobileMe closes down.
  • Reply 19 of 51
    I have to say I'm skeptical that this number means much of anything. It's a free service so of course people are going to sign up and try it out. But how many are really using it and how many tried it for a couple days and gave up?
  • Reply 20 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluefish86 View Post


    Or in other words, your AppleID/iCloud login is simply an email address. It defaults to your MobileMe email address when moving over.



    They are canceling iDisk and storage will be half, 5gb.
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