Global cloud infrastructure services expenditure exceeded US$50 billion in Q4 2021 for the first time.
Total spending in the fourth quarter grew 34 per cent to US$53.5 billion up from US$13.6 billion from Q4 2020.
According to Canalys, Amazon Web Services (AWS) took the top spot in the market, accounting for 33pc of total spend in Q4 2021 and growing 40pc annually.
Microsoft Azure took second place with a 22pc total share and grew 46pc, while Google Cloud was the third largest provider, accounting for 9pc of the market and growing 63pc.
Remote working, applications in healthcare and the public sector, ecommerce, gaming, streaming content and new immersive technology such as the metaverse are factors that diversify the use of cloud infrastructure services and will drive future demand.
Canalys research analyst Blake Murray said: “Cloud services are well positioned for individual developers and organisations looking to enter the metaverse.
“Computers will be in high demand in virtual and augmented reality environments, while storage, machine learning, IoT and data analytics will be essential to support operations such as digital twinning, modeling and interactivity in the metaverse.”
Canalys VP Alex Smith added: “Building trust with customers and key technology partners will drive competitive positioning for metaverse development, while global infrastructure, edge deployments and 5G connectivity will be necessary for widespread low-latency experiences.”