Application Container Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Service, By Deployment (Hosted, On-premise), By Enterprise Size (SMEs, Large Enterprises), By End-use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2024 - 2030

Application Container Market Size & Trends

The global application container market size was valued at USD 4.65 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 32.4% from 2024 to 2030. An accelerated digital transformation among organizations, rising adoption of cloud-based solutions, cost optimization efforts, and enhanced efficiency offered by application containerization have propelled market growth.

A container provides a self-contained, isolated environment for an application, ensuring that it functions independently of the underlying infrastructure. This isolation enhances portability, scalability, and application development and deployment efficiency. Organizations can streamline software development, improve deployment velocity, and optimize resource utilization by using application containers. These factors have fueled the demand for application containerization, leading to market growth.

Organizations across industries are undergoing rapid digital transformation by adopting agile and scalable IT infrastructures. Application containers offer the necessary flexibility and portability to support these initiatives. The increasing prevalence of cloud computing has created a demand for efficient application deployment and management. Containers excel in these areas, enabling seamless migration and distribution of workloads across different cloud environments. Additionally, the widespread adoption of DevOps methodologies has driven the necessity for rapid application development and deployment. Containers streamline these processes by enhancing the development speed and highlighting their requirement.

The shift towards microservice-based architectures has gained momentum as organizations seek to build resilient and scalable applications. Containers provide an ideal platform for deploying and managing microservices independently. Furthermore, containers offer efficient resource utilization, leading to reduced infrastructure costs. Organizations can optimize their IT spending by adopting containerization solutions. Along with these factors, an enhanced security environment offers a comprehensive solution to organizations, leading to heightened demand for application containerization.

Service Insights

The monitoring & security segment accounted for the highest revenue share of 29.4% in 2023. The dynamism and complexity of containerized applications require robust monitoring solutions to ensure optimal performance, detect anomalies, and prevent disruptions. As organizations progressively adopt containerization to accelerate application delivery, safeguarding containerized workloads against vulnerabilities and threats becomes vital. Security solutions are essential to protect sensitive data and maintain system integrity. Hence, substantial resources are dedicated to monitoring and security to mitigate the potential problems arising out of the complex nature of containerization, leading to segment growth.

The support and maintenance segment is expected to register the fastest growth during the forecast period. Proactive support and maintenance are essential to prevent application downtime and performance degradation. These services involve monitoring container health, troubleshooting issues, and implementing performance optimizations. Furthermore, containerized environments present unique security challenges. Support and maintenance providers offer expertise in securing containers, mitigating vulnerabilities, and ensuring compliance with industry regulations.

Deployment Insights

Hosted deployment held the highest revenue share in the application container market in 2023. By leveraging cloud-based platforms, organizations can eliminate substantial costs and complexities associated with managing and maintaining on-premises infrastructure, such as computer hardware and data processing systems. Hosted deployment offers greater scalability, enabling businesses to adjust resource allocation based on fluctuating workloads rapidly. This elasticity ensures optimal performance and cost efficiency for organizations with limited capital, accounting for a higher share of this segment.

On-premise deployment is expected to contribute significantly to market revenue during the forecast period. Stringent data privacy regulations require robust security measures for organizations handling sensitive data, such as financial institutions and government agencies. On-premise deployment offers greater control over data security infrastructure, enabling compliance with industry-specific standards. Moreover, this deployment type allows organizations complete control over their IT environment, allowing for greater flexibility and customization in application management. Thus, concerns regarding enhanced security and customization aid in driving steady segment growth.

Enterprise Size Insights

Large enterprises accounted for the largest market share in 2023. These organizations possess complex IT landscapes consisting of numerous applications and systems. Application containers offer an efficient method to package, deploy, and manage these applications, thus streamlining operations and enhancing scalability. Additionally, large enterprises have significant financial capital to invest in advanced technologies, such as application container platforms. They can afford the utilization of skilled personnel required to operate these services. These factors lead to the dominance of this segment in the overall market share.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are expected to grow at the fastest CAGR from 2024 to 2030. Application containers offer SMEs a cost-effective solution for application development and deployment, eliminating the need for extensive computer hardware and infrastructure investments. SMEs are leveraging cloud-based services at a faster pace, and application containers cater to all the necessary requirements of cloud environments. This functional synergy has accelerated container adoption among small and medium enterprises in recent years, boosting segment expansion.

End Use Insights

The Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector held the highest revenue share in 2023. Over the years, the BFSI sector has undergone a rapid and extensive digital transformation to enhance customer experience, operational efficiency, and risk management. Application containers provide the necessary agility and scalability to support these initiatives. The sector is under stringent regulatory frameworks by governments and supervisory bodies. Application containers offer a reliable platform for developing and deploying applications that adhere to these complex compliance requirements, leading to their widespread adoption in this industry.

The education sector is expected to register the fastest growth during the forecast period. This is owing to the increasing adoption of digital technologies in this field, which demands extensive and scalable IT infrastructure. Application containers offer an efficient solution for deploying and managing educational applications, enhancing operational efficiency and flexibility. Furthermore, application containers provide a cost-effective solution for educational institutions by optimizing resource utilization and reducing infrastructure expenses when installing computer hardware networks. These factors are expected to propel the widespread adoption of containerization solutions in education.

Regional Insights

North America dominated the market with a revenue share of 38.4% in 2023. With a robust infrastructure and a mature ecosystem of cloud service providers, the region has experienced a surge in cloud computing adoption. This early adoption has ensured a fertile ground for container technology, as application containers are intrinsically linked to cloud-native architectures. Moreover, the region has numerous technology giants that have been instrumental in driving containerization. These companies have invested heavily in research and development, leading to significant advancements in containerization technologies and their applications.

U.S. Application Container Market Trends

The U.S. held the largest share of the regional market in 2023. The country has a well-developed IT infrastructure, including robust data centers and high-speed networks, which are essential for efficient container deployment and management. A thriving venture capital landscape in the U.S. has fueled innovations in the container technology space, with substantial investments in startups developing cutting-edge container solutions. Moreover, the presence of mature players such as Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and others is driving the country's market growth.

Europe Application Container Market Trends

Europe held a notable market share in 2023. This share is primarily owing to the efficiency offered by containerization. For instance, containers run on cloud-based technology compared to outdated application deployments, requiring fewer physical computer and data storage systems. It aligns perfectly with the European Union’s focus on finding and deploying sustainable alternatives instead of energy-consuming hardware. Additionally, the inherent portability offered by containers appeals to a more extensive organizational base, leading to increased demand from the region.

The UK application container market accounted for a considerable market share in Europe in 2023. The suitability of containers in DevOps methodologies and automation has led to heightened demand from organizations in the UK. Furthermore, the scalability offered by containers using orchestration tools has helped address the workload distribution issue. The high operating speeds of containers have proved beneficial for cost control and optimization. These factors have led to a steady demand for this solution from organizations in the country, leading to market growth.

Asia Pacific Application Container Market Trends

Asia Pacific is anticipated to register the fastest growth during the forecast period. The region is experiencing the emergence of a vibrant start-up ecosystem characterized by innovation and agility. Application containers align with these businesses' rapid development and deployment requirements, fostering market expansion. Furthermore, governments of several regional economies have introduced supportive policies to promote the digital economy and cloud computing, creating a conducive environment for application container adoption.

India application container market has experienced rapid economic growth for the past three decades, and the IT services sector is a major contributor to this progress. The economy offers a large pool of IT talent at competitive costs, making it an attractive destination for technology-driven businesses and contributing to the growth of the application container market. Additionally, a surge in cloud computing adoption provides a fertile ground for containerized applications. Cloud service providers in India are investing heavily in container-based services, driving market growth.

Key Application Container Company Insights

Some key companies involved in the application container market include Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft, among others.

• Google offers services in computer software, search engine solutions, online advertising, video streaming, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and several related fields. The company designed the open-source container orchestration platform Kubernetes, which acts as a platform for managing containerized applications. It simplifies application management by handling routine tasks such as deployment, scaling, and monitoring. Additionally, Google offers a wide range of cloud services for application containerization, such as Borg and Docker (a PaaS software).

• Microsoft is a U.S.-based multinational computer software company that is well-known for its services in operating systems and Microsoft Office tools. Apart from these, Microsoft offers cloud-based solutions such as Azure. Azure offers over 200 products and application management services such as Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) for developing and deploying cloud-based applications, Azure app services for creating web and mobile-based apps, Azure Functions, Azure Container Instances, Azure spring apps, and several related solutions and platforms.

Recent Developments

• In July 2024, Broadcom announced that Nordnet is expected to utilize its VMware Tanzu Platform for building critical connectivity infrastructure in rural France. VMware is a subsidiary of Broadcom that provides services in cloud solutions and virtualization technology. This development is expected to help Nordnet manage its microservices, allowing the company to meet its cost and service commitments.

• In March 2024, Jenzabar, an educational software technology firm, announced its strategic partnership with Google Cloud. As per the agreement, Jenzabar will integrate its solutions with Google Cloud to containerize its applications and run them securely on Google Kubernetes Engine. Besides this, the company would also leverage Google Cloud’s AI solutions to make its applications AI-ready and its security solutions for protection against cyberattacks.

Application Container Market Report Scope

Application Container Market Report Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at the global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2018 to 2030. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global application container market report based on service, deployment, enterprise size, end use, and region:

• Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Monitoring & Security

  • Data Management & Orchestration

  • Networking

  • Support & Maintenance

  • Other

• Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Hosted

  • On-Premise

• Enterprise Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • SMEs

  • Large Enterprises

• End Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • BFSI

  • Healthcare & Life Science

  • Telecommunication & IT

  • Retail & E-commerce

  • Education

  • Media & Entertainment

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • UK

    • Germany

    • France

  • Asia Pacific

    • Japan

    • India

    • China

    • Australia

    • South Korea

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

  • Middle East & Africa

    • South Africa

    • Saudi Arabia

    • UAE