Apple's iCloud is most-used cloud service in the US, beating Dropbox & Amazon

Posted:
in iCloud edited January 2014
With support built into every Mac and iOS device, Apple's iCloud is the most-used cloud media service by U.S. consumers, a new survey has found.

Cloud
Strategy Analytics graphic via Engadget.


iCloud accounts for 27 percent of cloud customers in America, according to new data published Thursday by Strategy Analytics. That places Apple's service ahead of second-place Dropbox, with 17 percent, and third-place Amazon, with 15 percent.

Apple's rival Google comes in fourth with its Google Drive service, used by 10 percent of U.S. consumers. And in fifth is the cloud movie service Ultraviolet, used by just 4 percent of respondents.

The survey of 2,300 people found that cloud storage is particularly popular among people ages 20 to 24, and the most common use for cloud storage is music. Of those surveyed, 90 percent of iCLoud, Amazon and Google Drive users store music files in the cloud.

The story is different with Dropbox users, as 45 percent of them use the service to store music files.

"Music is currently the key battleground in the war for cloud domination," said Ed Barton, director of Digital Media at Strategy Analytics. "Google is tempting users by giving away free storage for 20,000 songs which can be streamed to any Android device, a feature both Amazon and Apple charge annual subscriptions for.

"However, the growth of video streaming and the desire to access content via a growing range of devices will see services such as the Hollywood-backed digital movie initiative Ultraviolet ? currently used by 4% of Americans ? increase market share."

In its quarterly earnings report in January, Apple revealed that it has more than 250 million active iCloud users, growing significantly from 190 million in October. Users are automatically prompted to open a free iCloud account with 5 gigabytes of storage when setting up a new iOS device.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 90
    Doesn't surprise me!
  • Reply 2 of 90
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    "Why should we trust them? These're the guys that gave us MobileMe!"

  • Reply 3 of 90
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member


    I wonder how many people use iCloud without realizing it. It is so integrated and once you have signed up to iTunes Match, it's just there... iCloud also backs up devices with no interaction. Photostream is also so transparent the fact that it uses iCloud may not be obvious to many people.

  • Reply 4 of 90
    wurm5150wurm5150 Posts: 763member
    A lot of iOS users don't even realize they're using iCloud..
  • Reply 5 of 90
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post



    A lot of iOS users don't even realize they're using iCloud..


     


     


    Which is why it's so damn brilliant. 

  • Reply 6 of 90
    This report is so slanted its not funny. iCloud is a defacto product that any iOS device needs just to sync your contacts, calendar, bookmarks etc. In fact the only reason I have mine turned on is because Google turned off syncing contacts, calendar, etc on my iPhone otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it.

    This is right up there with the comments about Google numbers being overstated because anyone who signs up for gmail gets a Google account as well, which by comparison if you have a Facebook account they turn off all other email addresses and set you up with a facebook email address so they can claim they have a huge email client base.

    Its all bogus and skewed numbers.

    Now if Apple and Google would allow iOS users to sync contacts, calendar and email without iCloud which is what it SHOULD be then I would not need iCloud at all.
  • Reply 7 of 90
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by RaptorOO7 View Post

    iCloud is a defacto product that any iOS device needs just to sync your contacts, calendar, bookmarks etc.


     


    Utterly incorrect.






    Now if Apple and Google would allow iOS users to sync contacts, calendar and email without iCloud which is what it SHOULD be then I would not need iCloud at all.



     


    Stop with the FUD. Now.

  • Reply 8 of 90
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RaptorOO7 View Post



    This report is so slanted its not funny. iCloud is a defacto product that any iOS device needs just to sync your contacts, calendar, bookmarks etc. In fact the only reason I have mine turned on is because Google turned off syncing contacts, calendar, etc on my iPhone otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it.



    This is right up there with the comments about Google numbers being overstated because anyone who signs up for gmail gets a Google account as well, which by comparison if you have a Facebook account they turn off all other email addresses and set you up with a facebook email address so they can claim they have a huge email client base.



    Its all bogus and skewed numbers.



    Now if Apple and Google would allow iOS users to sync contacts, calendar and email without iCloud which is what it SHOULD be then I would not need iCloud at all.


    Well, your experience is not the same as mine. My wife and I both using iClouds back up and it did stellar job transfer all her datas from iPad 2 to iPad mini. We couldn't care less about Google Contact or Calendar because we deleted those once we get iClouds. And for gmail, we're still syncing it thru Exchange. 

  • Reply 9 of 90


    Wow. iCloud's share is about the same as Amazon + Google + Samsung combined. Yet, when you hear 'cloud' in the media, Apple's name is rarely mentioned.


     


    iCloud is solid, but Apple can improve its functionality and use substantially if they would: (i) dramatically increase available storage (for a price, of course); (ii) allow all of a user's data/files to be stored, so that one can jettison services like Dropbox. I have a feeling that (i) will happen when the data centers are fully up and running, but I am not so sure about (ii).

  • Reply 10 of 90
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RaptorOO7 View Post



    This report is so slanted its not funny. iCloud is a defacto product that any iOS device needs just to sync your contacts, calendar, bookmarks etc. In fact the only reason I have mine turned on is because Google turned off syncing contacts, calendar, etc on my iPhone otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it....


     


    I think you're completely wrong on this.  The article implies that people were *asked* which service they used.  Therefore the base assumption should be that those who use it for things like you describe are actually not aware they are "using iCloud".  The numbers therefore aren't necessarily skewed in the way you suggest. 

  • Reply 11 of 90
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post



    A lot of iOS users don't even realize they're using iCloud..


     


     


    Which is why it's so damn brilliant. 



    Lots of Mac users are also on Dropbox and Google drive because iCould won't store files.

  • Reply 12 of 90

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RaptorOO7 View Post



    This report is so slanted its not funny. iCloud is a defacto product that any iOS device needs just to sync your contacts, calendar, bookmarks etc. In fact the only reason I have mine turned on is because Google turned off syncing contacts, calendar, etc on my iPhone otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it.



    This is right up there with the comments about Google numbers being overstated because anyone who signs up for gmail gets a Google account as well, which by comparison if you have a Facebook account they turn off all other email addresses and set you up with a facebook email address so they can claim they have a huge email client base.



    Its all bogus and skewed numbers.



    Now if Apple and Google would allow iOS users to sync contacts, calendar and email without iCloud which is what it SHOULD be then I would not need iCloud at all.


    Schmidt, go home, you are drunk (still).

  • Reply 13 of 90
    So it's a survey of people 20-24 year olds. Pretty limited.

    45% of them use Dropbox to store their music.......

    That should read:

    45% of them use Dropbox to shre their music with their friends.

    On another note.....

    I'm always surprised by the ignorance when "journalists" speak of Apple's struggle with Web Services.

    Apple had email before Google. Apple had iDisk (2000) years before Dropbox, Google Drive, and MS's drive.

    Apple had bookmark and address book syncing years before any of the other providers except maybe AOL. (I think these came out around 2003 with OS 10.3?)

    While some people had issues with MobileMe and iCloud, it wasn't the majority.

    I've had Apple .Mac email and other services starting on January 5th, 2000 without any issues whatsoever.
  • Reply 14 of 90
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    I wonder how many people use iCloud without realizing it. It is so integrated and once you have signed up to iTunes Match, it's just there... iCloud also backs up devices with no interaction. Photostream is also so transparent the fact that it uses iCloud may not be obvious to many people.



    You have to pay for iTunes Match so none on that count.


     


    but you suggest another question. How much of that music in the cloud is simply because they bought from the store and can redownload. Rather than active sign ups like iTunes Match.

  • Reply 15 of 90
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    While this seems highly likely for the reasons others stated above I do find Dropbox more indispensable because I can actively save files and share them with others. I hope they bring this feature back with a modern version of iDisk.


    Here is what Apple states is under the charge of iCloud. I bet even many posters here couldn't have named them all. Did you remember Find My Friends, Reading Lists, and iCloud Tabs? I didn't.


    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/22380/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]

    iMessages isn't even there and that's probably the most common and active way people iCloud.
  • Reply 16 of 90
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Wow. iCloud's share is about the same as Amazon + Google + Samsung combined. Yet, when you hear 'cloud' in the media, Apple's name is rarely mentioned.


     


    iCloud is solid, but Apple can improve its functionality and use substantially if they would: (i) dramatically increase available storage (for a price, of course); (ii) allow all of a user's data/files to be stored, so that one can jettison services like Dropbox. I have a feeling that (i) will happen when the data centers are fully up and running, but I am not so sure about (ii).



     


    Agreed.  Although I think a much better measure would be the amount of storage space each service actually has in use and the traffic to and fro the servers instead of simply the numbers of folks who like to use it.  


     


    My biggest beef with iCloud is only that half of the best apps you can get for iOS are made by douchebag hipsters who only code for DropBox because they think it's "better."  One thing iCloud apparently isn't (in the minds of these little shits), is "cool."  


     


    As you can probably tell, that kind of arrogance kind of bugs me.  image

  • Reply 17 of 90
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RaptorOO7 View Post



    This report is so slanted its not funny. iCloud is a defacto product that any iOS device needs just to sync your contacts, calendar, bookmarks etc. In fact the only reason I have mine turned on is because Google turned off syncing contacts, calendar, etc on my iPhone otherwise I wouldn't even bother with it.

     


     


    Plug in your iPhone to a computer, fire up iTunes, select 'sync contacts' and apply. No iCloud needed.


     


     


    also google didn't turn off anything, they just changed the mechanics. Google and you'll find the new method. 

  • Reply 18 of 90
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    charlituna wrote: »
    You have to pay for iTunes Match so none on that count.

    It doesn't count as a service that anyone that uses iCloud uses but it counts as falling under the iCloud umbrella. Think of it as a cloud-based in-app purchase.
  • Reply 19 of 90
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    There is a bit of Apples v. Oranges here. Most (all?) of Apple's cloud customers are individual customers. Dropbox has a very healthy contingent of the same. Amazon, on the other hand, serves corporate customers. In fact, both Apple and Dropbox are Amazon customers. Effectively, some (many?) in the survey checking off Apple and Dropbox as their cloud storage provider may have in fact be using Amazon S9 without being aware of it.


     


    Having said this, it is important to point out that while Apple's iCloud service has not been outstanding, it has grown and scaled rather well. Kudos to them.

  • Reply 20 of 90
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    It doesn't count as a service that anyone that uses iCloud uses but it counts as falling under the iCloud umbrella. Think of it as a cloud-based in-app purchase.


    This is a survey based on asking individuals what cloud service they use, if I am mistaken. I bet you some respondents don't really know.

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