Skype has been one of the internet phenomenons since its launch in 2003. Although there were a few similar applications that launched before Skype, it grew rapidly with its user friendly interface. Skype is still the most preferred VoIP application all over the world. As turk-internet.com, we reached Skype officials and made an interview with them about 2010 and their future agenda. You can read our interview below:
Turk-internet.com: We published the news about your IPO (Skype Halka Açılıyor). But still we would like to learn some points from you. You announced that Skype is going for an IPO in short time, so what is your plan in this regard? Is there a road map?
Rouzbeh Pasha : On August 9, 2010 Skype announced that it had filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its ordinary shares. For further information : click here
Turk-internet.com: Comparing with global communication, what is your share in global communication market as means of percentage? .As far as we know, for 2009 it was 113 billion minutes with 10,7% paid. What have those figures reached in 2010, and what is your target for the end of the year?
Rouzbeh Pasha : For the year ended December 31, 2009, Skype-to-Skype voice and video minutes totaled 113.0 billion minutes. Video calling represented approximately 40% of all Skype-to-Skype minutes for the first six months of 2010. At peak times, approximately 25 million concurrent users are logged into Skype at any given time (as of November 2010).
Turk-internet.com: What is your user volume nowadays? A quick search from Internet reveals it’s about 590 million. If it’s right, than this is more than Facebook. So do you plan to make something different with this user base?
Rouzbeh Pasha : From the three months ended June 30, 2009 to the three months ended June 30, 2010, average monthly connected users grew from 91 million to 124 million globally. In October Skype took another leap forward in helping people connect with the people and communities they care about through integrating the Facebook News Feed and Phonebook into Skype for Windows. With Facebook integration, people can now:
- see their Facebook News Feed in Skype
- post status updates that can be synced wit their Skype mood message
- comment and like friends’ updates and wall posts
- call and SMS their Facebook friends on their mobile phones and landlines
- make free Skype-to-Skype calls if their Facebook friend is also a Skype contact
By making more of the contacts available on Skype, people now have the ability to find and connect with more people which, in turn, makes Skype more useful. Skype has also expanded the ways in which people can do things together whenever they are apart with the free trial of group video calling beta to bring even more families and friends together at once. We’ve even added a dynamic group video calling view, which it easy to follow who’s talking by moving the focus to the person speaking on the call.
We are excited about how our partnership can benefit both Facebook and Skype users.
Turk-internet.com: What is your business model these days? Where are you making money from?
Rouzbeh Pasha : The core of Skype’s offering – free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calling and instant messaging – is free and we will continue to invest in these products to deliver a great experience for our users.
At the same time, our users are asking for more products and features that they are willing to pay for. To meet this demand, we have expanded our paid voice calling to landlines and mobiles through monthly subscriptions, offered inventive products like online Skype Access, while continuing to support paid features such as online numbers, voicemail and SMS. In addition, we will continue to build our premium product suite with features like group video calling.
The second part of this interview will be published tomorrow and you may also read the Turkish translation of this interview from: Rouzbeh Pasha : Skype’ın, Facebook Entegrasyonu ile Kullanıcılarımıza Arkadaşları ve Aileleri ile Daha Çok Birlikte Olma Olanağı Sağladık
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