Microsoft To Acquire Skype for $8.5 Billion
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 10th May 2011 08:19 UTC, submitted by porcel
Microsoft So, the biggest acquisition in Microsoft's history. The Wall Street Journal reports - and it has been confirmed - that Microsoft and Skype will announce today that Redmond will buy Skype for $8.5 billion. That's a lot of money for a company that hasn't ever actually made any profits. Update: and it's official: yay on Skype on the Xbox360 and Windows Phone, and this: "Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms." Let's hope this includes Linux.
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RE[2]: Wireless telco?
by Morgan on Tue 10th May 2011 11:07 UTC in reply to "RE: Wireless telco?"
Morgan
Member since:
2005-06-29

Thanks for that horrific mental image! (yuck)

Anyway, I doubt this is going to cause any impact on the wired and wireless voice carriers. I have a feeling that, as mentioned elsewhere, Skype technology will end up embedded in Windows 8, specifically for use on tablets but probably enabled on any device. By that time T-Mobile will be swallowed by AT&T, and likely Sprint as well by Verizon. That leaves us Microsoft-friendly AT&T vs Android-friendly Verizon, and VoIP concerns will wane in favor of the epic battle between the two carriers for your metered data consumption.

I also don't think they would automatically kill the ports to Linux and other OSes; that would cut out a significant chunk of their Windows customers' contacts. I doubt they will do much to improve performance and features on those ports either though; after all, they have an obligation to their shareholders to make Windows appear to be the superior platform.

And finally, don't forget that Google Voice is still out there, integrates perfectly with Android phones (and fairly well with Blackberry phones as well) and is free for another year in the US. I'd be willing to bet that Microsoft has plans to use Skype to try to take a piece of that pie too.

Reply Parent Score: 4

jabbotts Member since:
2007-09-06

But they could very well neglect. Leave it functioning but slowly reduce support until it's far enough behind that users have to start giving up on it too. Then they trot out the old "we do not see enough market interest to continue this development branch".

I do truly hope I'm being overly pessimistic.

Reply Parent Score: 2

Morgan Member since:
2005-06-29

I hope you are too, and we may both be completely wrong. But Microsoft has a certain reputation...

Anyway it goes though, I don't think it's ever really a good thing when a company that powerful buys up a smaller company. Someone always loses out in the end, and far too often it's the consumer.

I for one am heartbroken that the best cellphone company in the US, a company whose customer support has me believing in "the customer is always right" again, is less than a year away from being chewed up and spat out by AT&T. I plan to leave T-Mobile by the end of the year, when I am free from my contracts. Sadly, I'll likely go to a prepaid service and become my own customer support, since the rest of them don't live up to even AT&T's poor standard.

Reply Parent Score: 2

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