Public Cloud Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the public cloud market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global public cloud market reached a value of nearly $588.53 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.91% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $588.53 billion in 2023 to $1.45 trillion in 2028 at a rate of 19.91%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.32% from 2028 and reach $3.38 trillion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises, growing adoption of cloud computing technology, rise in digital transformation. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period was security and data protection challenges.

Going forward, rising use of 5G technology, growing internet penetration, increase in dominance of cloud-based applications will drive the market growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the public cloud market in the future include shortage of skilled professionals.

The public cloud market is segmented by service into Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Business Process as a service (BPaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The SaaS market was the largest segment of the public cloud market segmented by service, accounting for 37.2% or $218.9 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the IaaS segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the public cloud market segmented by service, at a CAGR of 24.49% during 2023-2028.

The public cloud market is segmented by end-user into banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), IT and telecom, healthcare, retail and ecommerce, professional service, energy and utilities, manufacturing and other end-users. The BFSI market was the largest segment of the public cloud market segmented by end-user, accounting for 25.2% or $148.09 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the healthcare segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the public cloud market segmented by end-user, at a CAGR of 24.37% during 2023-2028.

The public cloud market is segmented by organization size into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) market was the largest segment of the public cloud market segmented by organization size, accounting for 77.2% or $454.62 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the public cloud market segmented by organization size, at a CAGR of 20.57% during 2023-2028.

North America was the largest region in the public cloud market, accounting for 43.7% or $257 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Asia Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the public cloud market will be Asia Pacific and Western Europe where growth will be at CAGRs of 21.4% and 20.2% respectively. These will be followed by North America and South America where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 19.5% and 19.4% respectively.

The global public cloud market is fairly concentrated, with a few large players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 31.38% of the total market in 2022. The market fragmentation can be attributed to the presence of large players in different geographies. Amazon.com, Inc. was the largest competitor with a 11.39% share of the market, followed by Microsoft Corporation with 7.14%, Alphabet Inc. with 4.27%, Salesforce, Inc. with 2.55%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited with 1.77%, SAP SE with 1.39%, Adobe Inc with 0.89%, International Business Machines Corporation with 0.78%, Oracle Corporation with 0.65% and ServiceNow, Inc with 0.56%.

The top opportunities in the public cloud market segmented by service will arise in the PaaS segment, which will gain $248.4 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the public cloud market segmented by organization size will arise in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment, which will gain $703.6 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the public cloud market segmented by end-user will arise in the BFSI segment, which will gain $228.2 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The public cloud market size will gain the most in the USA at $338.3 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the public cloud market include focusing on integrating their efforts in developing innovative solutions such as hybrid cloud mesh, focusing on advanced analytics capabilities, focusing on multi-hybrid cloud and edge-integrated management platforms designed for comprehensive cloud transformation, focusing on launching new and improved cloud management and automation solutions, focused on innovating new products to sustain their position in the market and focusing on the development of multi-cloud management platform.

Player-adopted strategies in the public cloud market include focus on enhancing business operations through strategic collaborations and partnerships, focus on strengthening operational capabilities through new product launches.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the public cloud companies to focus on hybrid cloud mesh solutions, focus on advanced analytics in cloud services, focus on multi-hybrid cloud management solutions, focus on advanced cloud management solutions, focus on technological innovations, focus on fastest growing market segments: SAAS and IAAS, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, focus on strategic pricing, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions, focus on customer-centric engagement for end-user targeting, focus on tailored solutions for SMES to enhance market penetration and focus on fastest growing market segments: BFSI and healthcare.