Everyone was surprised and did not understand why Apple paid such a huge price for just a domain.
It was well-known that Apple would use it wisely but, in what way, no one knew.
Some reports have starting coming which help us understand why Apple bought iCloud.com for such a high price:
Reason 1:
1.iCloudNews.com
2.iCloudos.com
3.icloudos.net
4.icloudos.org
5.iCloud.org
6.LiquidCloud.com
7.iCloudBlog.com
8.LeadCloud.com
9.AlbumCloud.com
10.LiquidCloud.net
11.LiquidCloud.org
2.iCloudos.com
3.icloudos.net
4.icloudos.org
5.iCloud.org
6.LiquidCloud.com
7.iCloudBlog.com
8.LeadCloud.com
9.AlbumCloud.com
10.LiquidCloud.net
11.LiquidCloud.org
It is quite possible that Apple has bought all of the above domains in a package and paid $4.5 million for the complete package. In this case $4.5 million seems to be reasonable amount.
Reason 2: According to some rumors Apple is integrating a service in its upcoming iOS 5 and Mac OS lion called iCloud. This service will very similar to the MobileMe service-bookmarks, email, contacts and iCal events.
To improve upon the service it is expected tha Apple will provide a complete cloud based service for storing audio.photo and video.
To use the name iCloud for a cloud storage service Apple might have paid royalties of $4.5 million.
Read more: http://technorati.com/technology/article/why-apple-paid-45-million-for/#ixzz1L8RZAB00