Apple's iCloud service runs on Amazon's elastic cloud and Microsoft Azure, according to a report by The Register.

Rumors that Apple was using the two platforms to host iCloud started circulating in June, after the company released the first details about the service. Sources close to the deal have now confirmed the rumors, but said neither Amazon nor Microsoft are allowed to talk about it, according to The Register.

It didn't make sense for Apple to become a cloud provider as it is more consumer-focused, according to the sources.

If true, the move is a boon for Microsoft's fledgling Azure service, which is running up against competition from Amazon Web Services -- currently the dominant player -- IBM, VMware and others.

Apple's choice to use two vendors to host iCloud could prevent any issues, technical or otherwise, that might arise, though it's not yet clear how the two cloud providers will manage the workload.

Most AWS users run on Linux, while Azure is Windows-based, reports The Register, which could create additional cost and complexity.

Apple does have a $500 million data center underway in North Carolina, which could eventually be used to host the service.

iCloud was launched in beta last month and is expected to be available by the end of this year.