Consumer subscriptions to cloud-based storage services are expected to rise to 500 million this year, a new report said.
A total of 500 million personal cloud storage subscriptions are expected this year, up from less than 300 million in 2011, according to the report from IHS iSuppli Mobile and Wireless Communications Service.
The subscriptions are expected to jump to 625 million next year, a solid increase of 25 %, with uninterrupted double-digit growth anticipated to follow until at least 2017.
During that year, subscriptions to cloud storage are projected to hit 1.3 billion, as presented in the figure attached.
“In an environment where mobile devices like smartphones and media tablets handle broadband data on a near-ceaseless basis, businesses are realizing the importance of cloud services in allowing consumers to manage, store and sync content across their devices,” said Jagdish Rebello, director for consumer and communications at IHS.
“And with companies casting about for new viable business models in order to monetize data traffic, cloud-based services could help lead firms into the next revolution of the wireless industry—or at least remain pertinent in the new mobile broadband paradigm. However, providing cloud services is not profitable as a standalone service, challenging companies to identify value-added services that could generate revenue.”
The dash to provide cloud services is sweeping through companies of all shapes and stripes—from the wireless providers who have a lock on broadband spectrum; to corporate titans like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple; to independent and pure-play cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Barracuda, Carbonite, SugarSync, Synplicity, Funanbol and Mozy, the report further said.
Overall, cloud computing is a dramatic game changer, representing a fundamental shift in the way broadband data is handled by both consumers and service providers.
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