Apple is said to be working with Chinese server vendor Inspur to aid it in transferring its iCloud data services in-house. The report comes from DigiTimes, who cites sources in the Chinese supply chain. While neither company has confirmed the rumor, the sources cited by DigiTimes have proven reliable in the past.
Currently Apple is thought to rely heavily on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host many of its cloud server requirements, but the company’s data center plans suggest it is looking to scale back the money it spends on third-party cloud computing platforms as its data demands increase.
Inspur has facilities close to Apple’s California headquarters, where a production center and an R&D term are located. It currently holds over 60% of China’s Internet server market. The company is also in partnerships with Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and other technology companies with a need to expand their server capacity.
Apple is currently expanding its own data hosting capabilities, building data centers in Ireland, Denmark, Reno, and Arizona, and expanding its existing data center in Prineville, Oregon. Until those centers are fully functional, Apple will continue to use multiple data services to carry the load.
Apple signed a deal last month with Google, said to be worth between $400 million and $600 million to use the Google Cloud Platform to provide some infrastructure for iCloud and other Apple services. Previous reports have pointed to AWS and Microsoft Azure as cloud services Apple has contracted with in the past to share its ever-increasing cloud data load.
