Apple to move a part of cloud business from AWS to Google

According to reports, the tech company Apple has moved some of its iCloud and services data from Amazon Web Services to Google’s cloud platform, in what is seen as a bid by the iPhone maker to diversify its cloud service providers. However, Google is a rival of Apple in smartphones and other devices, but such deals are common among tech companies in areas that they don’t compete.

The move comes even as the company is building its own new data centers, leading to speculation whether the shift is only temporary. After signing the deal with Google late last year, Apple has significantly reduced its reliance on AWS, whose infrastructure it has been using to run parts of iCloud and other services, reported CRN, quoting sources with knowledge of the matter. The publication put Apple’s spending with Google at between US$400 and $600 million, though it added it wasn’t clear whether the figures referred to an annual spending rate or a set amount of capacity.

Apple is setting up a data “command center” in Mesa, Arizona. It also plans to have data centers in Ireland and Denmark that are expected to go into operation in 2017, and will power Apple’s online services including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri for customers across Europe.

Apple is also known to also use services from Microsoft Azure. For Google, the Apple business could help as it competes with leading players like AWS and Microsoft Azure in the cloud business.