In a blow to Amazon, Apple recently inked a deal with Google wherein a good portion of Apple’s iCloud infrastructure will be powered by the search giant’s Google Cloud Platform.
Originally reported by CRN, the terms of the deal reportedly have Apple spending anywhere between $400 million and $600 million, though it’s not yet clear if this price range is for the duration of the contract or an annual fee. The report adds that the deal was finalized late last year and that Apple, as a result, has since begun to “significantly reduce its reliance on Amazon Web Services.”
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Apple’s decision to opt with Google over Amazon is interesting for a few reasons.
For one, it’s not as if Apple and Google have exactly seen eye to eye in recent years. Though Apple never sued Google directly, Apple has been involved in a number of high-profile lawsuits involving a number of Android handset manufacturers over the past few years. Second, it’s interesting to see Apple break away from Amazon Web Services; naturally, an explanation for the transition remains open to speculation at this point.
Adding more detail to the story, Amir Efrati of The Information tweeted that the transition from AWS to Google Cloud Platform may take some time. Also interesting is the claim that doing business with Apple may not exactly be a money-making venture.
It’s true, @iCloud to be partially powered by @googlecloud. But will take a year & unlikely to be profitable. @awscloud lost $ from iCloud.
— Amir Efrati (@amir) March 16, 2016
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Apple of course isn’t the only big name tech company to recently decide to go all-in with Google. Just last month, Spotify announced its plan to move to Google Cloud Platform.
