According to the folks at Cloud Wars, Microsoft Cloud has been enjoying consistent growth through 2022 and could “top $100 billion” by the close of the year. Microsoft has been enjoying consistent growth for a decade, although there are signs the maturing market and more competition is making that growth slow.
Still, growth is growth, and the Cloud Wars prediction suggests Microsoft's cloud business will bring $100 million in revenue on its own this year.
As mentioned, there is evidence growth is slowing but there is still room to move. The cloud market is getting busy, but it is not at saturation point. In fact, I have often argued that there is enough cloud to go around. Businesses are still shifting more to the cloud than ever. That is why several industry heavyweights (Amazon Web Services, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft) are each able to thrive in cloud.
Prediction
Bob Evans writing for Cloud Wars discusses Microsoft's 2022 cloud potential and how it is possible to take $100bn in total revenue (it is worth noting Microsoft's own fiscal year runs July to July):
- “For the quarter ended March 31 (Microsoft's FY22 Q3), its cloud revenue was $23.4 billion, up 32%; and
- “For the quarter ended June 30 (FY22 Q4), cloud revenue was $25 billion, up 28%.
“That adds up to $48.4 billion for the first half of calendar 2022, meaning Microsoft has to generate second-half cloud revenue of $51.6 billion to reach $100 billion for the year. That's an average of $25.8 billion per quarter. While it would be foolish to say that achieving such volume is in the bag, I do not recall Microsoft's cloud revenue going down in sequential quarters for the past handful of years. So, the fact that Microsoft hit $25 billion in the second calendar quarter means it has a very good chance of bumping that up to at least $25.8 billion in each of the next two quarters.”
While Microsoft was never in huge trouble, a decade ago the company's fortunes looked to be on a downward trend. A seeming desperation to be a consumer brand was harming Microsoft, as the company became increasingly rudderless. Enter CEO Satya Nadella and his cloud-first approach for the company.
Since then, Microsoft has been thriving and passing milestones of success. From surpassing $100 billion annual revenue for the first time to becoming the first trillion-dollar company. Cloud and the Azure brand have driven the ongoing success.
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