Strategy Analytics: Apple leads cloud storage wars, but Dropbox is gaining

Apple is currently in the lead when it comes to the domestic cloud storage wars, according to a new survey produced by Strategy Analytics.

The real strength here for the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation was digital entertainment, which tends to require a lot of space anyway.

Thus, the combination of iCloud and iTunes Match was said to account for 27 percent of cloud storage usage in the United States during the third quarter of 2012.

Ed Barton, director of digital media at Strategy Analytics, highlighted in the report how music has become "key battleground in the war for cloud domination."

This primarily pits the tech giants of Apple, Amazon, and Google against each other being that they arguably have the largest and most successful digital media and entertainment marketplaces online.

However, neither Amazon nor Google came in second on this list. That honor went to Dropbox which doesn't have a dedicated entertainment service whatsoever. (But it was noted that 45 percent of Dropbox users do use the cloud storage lockers for saving music.)

Accounting for 17 percent of major cloud media usage in the U.S. last fall, Dropbox skirted past Amazon Cloud Drive by just two percentage points.

Barton suggested that this reflects "that an integrated content storefront isn't essential to build a large user base. Nevertheless, he hinted Dropbox might head in this direction with the prediction that "competition to intensify sharply over the coming years."

via Engadget