Frost & Sullivan, in collaboration with LeadLeo, has released the radar chart (Frost Radar) of the China Edge Cloud Market 2024

Edge cloud refers to a distributed open platform that integrates network, computing, storage, and application core capabilities at the edge of the network close to users or data sources. It provides edge intelligence services locally to meet the key needs of industry digitization in areas such as agile connectivity, real-time business operations, and data optimization. Application scenarios of edge cloud include video surveillance, smart cities, cloud rendering, interactive live streaming, etc. Depending on the deployment location of edge cloud, it can be divided into regional edge cloud and on-site edge cloud. With the rapid development of technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things, the number of terminal devices such as wearable devices and robots has increased rapidly, and at the same time, the amount of data generated by terminal devices has also increased exponentially. This has put forward higher requirements for the timeliness and reliability of data processing, driving the continuous expansion of cloud computing services towards the edge and the emergence of the concept of edge cloud. Edge cloud creates differentiated networks for users by opening network, computing, and storage resources to them.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis, LeadLeo research institute

The evolution process of edge cloud technology encompasses the main technical trends such as node miniaturization, hardware infrastructure, network architecture, and distributed management systems. Edge cloud node services are gradually evolving from virtual machines, containers, and servers to serverless services. Hardware infrastructure has moved from non-customization to customization, network architecture is moving from classical networks to hyper-converged networks, and distributed management systems have also gradually strengthened multi-tenant isolation and PaaS-level monitoring functions. Overall, the development of edge cloud technology shows a trend of continuous optimization and iteration to meet changing business needs and provide a solid technical foundation for diverse application scenarios.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis, LeadLeo research institute

The edge cloud industry chain in China has basically taken shape, with upstream including underlying technology providers and infrastructure suppliers, midstream consisting of edge cloud service providers such as industry solution providers, telecom operators, and CDN manufacturers, and downstream targeting B2B and C2C users.

The upstream of the edge cloud industry chain mainly consists of underlying technology providers and infrastructure providers. Underlying technology providers include chip manufacturers and basic software suppliers, providing core chips, operating systems, and virtualization platforms for computing, storage, networking, and other aspects that meet the needs of different application scenarios. Currently, the overall market scale of edge AI chips in China is showing an upward trend, mainly driven by downstream demand expansion, underlying technology innovation, and policy support. Edge AI chips can be divided into cloud, edge, and terminal AI chips according to application scenarios. Among them, the market scale of edge AI chips is expected to exceed that of cloud AI chips, becoming the AI chip with the highest proportion of future applications. Infrastructure providers provide heterogeneous hardware devices such as servers, storage equipment, network equipment, intelligent network cards, and GPUs to build the overall hardware infrastructure of edge clouds. Upstream suppliers provide key technologies and resources for other links of the edge cloud industry chain, ensuring that the entire industry chain can operate stably and efficiently.

In the midstream of the edge cloud industry chain, edge cloud service providers play a crucial role, mainly including industry solution providers, telecom operators, and CDN vendors. Industry solution providers possess efficient data processing capabilities and lower costs, providing highly customized solutions for industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, finance, retail, etc. Telecom operators, with their stable networks and extensive user bases, can offer edge computing services at nodes closer to end-users, thereby reducing latency, improving data transmission speed, and enhancing user experience. CDN vendors leverage their built-in edge nodes to significantly improve overall distribution efficiency, enabling interactive live streaming, audio and video streaming media, online gaming, and other scenarios to better utilize edge cloud technology, providing users with real-time and smooth experiences. These service providers provide key interconnectivity services for upstream and downstream of the industry chain through their respective strengths, ensuring the efficient and orderly operation of the edge cloud market as a whole.

At the downstream of the edge cloud market industry chain, B-side and C-side users exhibit different application needs and market potential. B-side users include enterprises and industry institutions, whose demand for edge clouds mainly focuses on real-time data processing, ultra-low latency, bandwidth optimization, as well as data security and local management. Enterprise users use edge clouds in areas such as intelligent manufacturing, smart cities, autonomous driving, and smart retail to achieve digital transformation and business optimization; industry institutions, on the other hand, place more emphasis on customized overall solutions, data processing efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, covering industries such as healthcare, education, and government. C-side users include individual consumers who rely on edge cloud-optimized networks and computing resources to meet entertainment and communication needs in fields such as cloud gaming, interactive live streaming, augmented reality, virtual reality, and video streaming media. The diverse needs of B-side and C-side users together drive the continuous growth of China's edge cloud market.

With the development of edge cloud application scenarios and businesses, 'integration' and 'coordination' technologies will become the core of edge cloud technology development. The future development trends of edge cloud technology cover three aspects: deep customization of edge cloud hardware towards specific scenarios, coordination of core technology trends, and intelligent edge intelligence driven by smart industries. In terms of edge hardware infrastructure technology, with the introduction of heterogeneous devices such as intelligent network cards, GPUs, and NPU, future edge hardware will support the integration of a large number of heterogeneous devices. At the same time, to meet the customization needs of edge scenarios, many customized devices will also emerge. In terms of edge control technology, unified control technology will continue to be upgraded, and a complete hierarchical control mechanism will also be established between the center and the edge to achieve coordinated and unified resources and services at the edge cloud level.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis, LeadLeo research institute

Edge cloud has achieved low latency and high bandwidth in emerging businesses and scenarios, meeting multiple requirements such as moderate edge autonomy and security. It provides enterprises and users with easy-to-access, scenario-specific, and widely covered distributed basic resources, meeting business development demands and continuously iteratively optimizing. In practical applications of edge cloud, to address the unpredictable impacts brought about by timeliness, meet the efficient distributed processing capabilities required for intelligent scenarios, and reduce the high bandwidth costs associated with large data distribution, the edge cloud's needs are trending towards low latency, high bandwidth, moderate edge autonomy, and security. Edge cloud meets the cloudification needs of different industries with its outstanding features, and future scenarios are divided into three categories: traffic-based scenarios, terminal cloudification scenarios, and government-enterprise edge cloud scenarios. Based on cloudification characteristics, more and more enterprises are choosing appropriate edge cloud scenarios according to their needs to empower efficient and convenient cloudification development.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis, LeadLeo research institute

With the deepening digital transformation of various industries and the rapid development of emerging technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, the advantages of edge cloud in data processing, network optimization, and security are becoming increasingly prominent. Through a comprehensive analysis of China's edge cloud industry chain, technological development, and application scenarios, this report provides important references for enterprises and industry institutions in constructing, selecting, and optimizing edge cloud solutions. In the future, with further improvement in integration and collaborative technologies, edge cloud will bring more efficient, secure, and intelligent application experiences to enterprises and users, continuously driving innovation and development across multiple industries.