Apple doles out $30m a month for AWS cloud - reports

The manufacturer is one of the cloud provider's biggest customers, claims CNBC

Apple spends over $30m (£23m) a month on Amazon Web Services (AWS), making it one of the cloud provider's biggest customers, according to CNBC.

The manufacturer's spend on AWS was set to hit $30m on average in Q1 of 2019 - more than 10 per cent higher than 2018's figure, reported the news site, which spoke to two anonymous sources familiar with the spending.

One of these sources claimed that Apple's spend on AWS' services was $350m last year.

The company has been touting the importance of growing its services arm as its heretofore dominant devices division sees a decline.

This focus on services will see it invest heavily in both AWS and its own cloud capabilities.

Last year, Apple pulled the plug on plans to build a £750m datacentre in Ireland due to legal challenges, but this did not dampen its enthusiasm to invest in its own cloud infrastructure.

The vendor announced it would be splashing $10bn on its own datacentres in the US over the course of five years, $4.5bn of which would be spent this year alone.

The two tech giants reportedly signed an agreement in recent months which would see Apple spending at least $1.5bn on AWS over the course of five years.

The alleged $30m monthly spend makes Apple one of AWS' biggest customers. The cloud arm is a significant money-spinner for Amazon, contributing over $25bn to its overall revenue in 2018.

CRN has contacted both Apple and AWS for comment.