Are hardware vendors the natural winners in cloud infrastructure services?

I don’t think so. Having the lowest cost of server hardware simply isn’t enough. The failure of both Dell and Intel to build successful hosting businesses ought to make that clear. (Dell sold to Sprint, and Intel sold to Savvis, at a significant loss.) Hosting is not an exact parallel, but it’s close enough to look to it for hard-won lessons. Like hosting, cloud infrastructure services are not and will not be just about the lowest costs possible. Cloud will still also be about service, support, and features.