The cloud wars remained cold during the third quarter of 2021 as Amazon Web Services’ market dominance prevailed once again and showed no signs of relenting its lead. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) captured 33% of cloud spending during Q3, followed by Microsoft Azure at 20%, and Google Cloud at 10%, according to Synergy Research Group. The industry research firm estimates cloud infrastructure service revenues hit $45.4 billion during the quarter as enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure jumped 37% year over year. 

Sizing up the cloud market is a bit of a guessing game because not every cloud provider, including Microsoft, discloses public cloud revenue in dollars. As such, estimates vary. 

Analysts at Canalys estimate worldwide spending on cloud infrastructure services jumped 35% to $49.4 billion. Remote work, education, and the increased use of industry-specific cloud applications are driving significant growth, according to the firm. 

Canalys projects AWS earned 32% of total cloud infrastructure services spend during the quarter reflecting a 39% year-over-year increase in cloud revenue. Microsoft Azure ended Q3 with a 21% market share, having grown more than 50% for a fifth consecutive quarter, and Google Cloud jumped 54%, ending the quarter with an 8% market share, according to Canalys.

Blake Murry, research analyst at Canalys, also noted that demand for compute is outgrowing chip manufacturing capabilities — a problem that could limit some cloud providers’ infrastructure expansion plans. 

“Besides managing supply chains to the best of their abilities, the providers building an advantage are focused on developing their go-to-market channels along with their product portfolios to catch up with an increasingly wide variety of customer use cases that has fueled demand since the start of the pandemic,” Murray wrote in a report. 

Canalys warned that the impact of the global chip shortage on cloud providers is “imminent,” resulting in longer lead times for data center component providers and higher prices that will be passed on to the largest cloud providers. 

The big three clouds — AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud — accounted for 61% of total cloud spend during the quarter, according to Canalys. Synergy Research Group puts the trio’s total take at 63%, adding that AWS, Microsoft, and Google have even more pronounced dominance in public cloud where the top three controlled 70% of the market during the quarter.

Public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings accounted for the bulk of the market, growing at a year-over-year rate of 39% overall, according to Synergy Research Group.

The market research firm also noted that although AWS, Microsoft, and Google command much of the market’s revenue and attention, other cloud providers generated $17 billion in revenue during Q3, a 27% jump from last year. 

“By any standards a $17 billion market growing at such a rate is an attractive proposition for many service providers and their suppliers,” John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group, wrote in a report. 

“Clearly there are challenges with the big three companies lurking in the background, so the name of the game is not competing with them head on,” he added. “Providing companies are smart about targeting the right applications and customer groups. Cloud can provide a broad and exciting range of growth opportunities for them.”