Apple’s iCloud price remains $3.99/mo for 200GB prior to iOS 8 and Yosemite release
Apple has updated the pricing information for iCloud in preparation for the release of iOS 8 and Mac OS X Yosemite, which will include iCloud Drive, the new file sync-and-share solution. I had thought they would drop the prices more aggressively.
In the File Sync-and-Share Sector Roadmap I wrote recently, I summarized recent price-cutting announcements in the file sync-and-share market:
Near-Zero Storage Cost
Here are a few recent events showing falling storage prices and the new normal of unlimited storage with business or enterprise offerings:
- On 16 July 2014, Box announced that the “business” tier of its for-fee offering now has unlimited storage for $15/user/month, just as the “enterprise” tier had already done.
- Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive now start with 15 GB for free users, and Google for Work offers unlimited storage for $10/user/month.
- Apple iCloud Drive — coming this fall — will offer 200 GB for $3.99/month. We’ll see if the company revises that number down it gets closer to release.
- Dropbox for Business has always offered teams unlimited space, although it starts the team with 1TB for 5 users and increases space from there as needed. We’ll see how it responds to the downward price pressures on the per user/per month side of the equation.
- Amazon has entered the market with Zocalo. Its starting point is $5/user/month, including 200 GB of storage. We’ll see if the company shifts its plan to unlimited storage by the time the product is fully launched.
We’ll have to see what Apple does after the release of the new iOS and Mac OS X. The trend is continuing toward zero, but right now the market is $4-$5 for 200GB in the consumer side of things. Apple and Microsoft are both charging $3.99/month for 200GB.
