s+b Trend Watch: Cloud Computing

A new study by Booz & Company reveals two concurrent trends changing the landscape of the communications industry. First, as shown below at left, residential consumers’ demand for cloud storage exceeds 6 terabytes (about 6,000 gigabytes) per household, and is expected to increase close to sixfold by 2020. But those consumers are still restricted by price. As the second trend (at right) shows, however, this will change: The price of cloud storage is dropping dramatically. Software and search companies like Google, e-retailers like Amazon, and media and telecommunications companies everywhere will be drawn into new types of competition to provide consumers with their piece of the cloud.

At Home in the Cloud