Google Swiftly Counters Oracle in Japan’s Cloud Market

Oracle (ORCL) appears to be very much on the receiving end of Google’s (GOOGL) cloud computing ambitions. Google has poached several senior executives from Oracle to work in its cloud computing division. In fact, the chief executive of Google’s cloud business, Thomas Kurian, was a longtime Oracle executive before he jumped ship.

The Google-Oracle cloud rivalry continues, and the latest battlefield is Japan. About a week after Oracle launched its cloud region in Japan to allow it to better serve customers in the country, Google swiftly countered the move by announcing the launch of its second cloud region in Japan. Oracle’s Japan cloud region is located in the country’s capital Tokyo, while Google now has cloud regions in both Tokyo and Osaka. Opening another cloud region in Japan is part of Google’s push to expand its cloud computing capacity as it fights to catch up with Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT), which currently dominate the global cloud market, according to data from Synergy Research.

Japan is one of the world’s hottest cloud markets. According to IDC estimates, the public cloud market in Japan was worth $6.2 billion in 2018 and will reach $15.6 billion by 2023. Amazon and Microsoft are the other major cloud vendors pursuing the revenue opportunity in the Japanese cloud market. Alibaba (BABA) is also pursuing cloud dollars in Japan. The Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant early this year announced the opening of its second data center in Japan.