Microsoft in Talks to Acquire Skype for $8.5 Billion

[Fish In The Water]

Skype already provides a great service (witness 600 million users) so it seems unlikely Microsoft can improve on such success. At the risk of generalizing, when the big get bigger, it's usually bad news for consumers.

[Gerald]

Microsoft has confirmed that it has agreed to buy internet phone service Skype.

The deal will see Microsoft pay $8.5bn (£5.2bn) for Skype, making it Microsoft's largest acquisition.

Luxembourg-based Skype has 663 million global users. In August last year it announced plans for a share flotation, but this was subsequently put on hold.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13343600


Note: Update Record,10 May 2011 Last updated at 13:54 GMT

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Fish In The Water

Skype already provides a great service (witness 600 million users) so it seems unlikely Microsoft can improve on such success. At the risk of generalizing, when the big get bigger, it's usually bad news for consumers.

Not as true as one might think, but with Microsoft that's a pretty safe generalization to make.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Not as true as one might think, but with Microsoft that's a pretty safe generalization to make.

[the_tyrant]

skype will end up like IE, bundled with every copy of windows

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

skype will end up like IE, bundled with every copy of windows

And also like IE it will likely end up lagging behind the competition in new features. Right now Skype is riding high, but if and when it becomes a small part of a big empire, it'll no longer have the same singular passion that kept it on the cutting edge.

Give it a year or two and the competition will not only catch but probably surpass Skype. I don't claim to know the future, but if recent history is any guide, Skype will likely stagnate under the Microsoft banner while the smaller competitors will flourish by focusing on trying to do just one thing as well as possible.