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Is The Skype Deal That Bad For Microsoft?
Posted on | May 13, 2011 | Comments Off
It’s tough to find a point of view that is so one-sided. It’s decided. The Microsoft acquisition is already a colossal failure according to experts and analysts.
I might be silly here, but if all the analysts and so-called experts are lined up the side that Microsoft should not have done this deal, I’m starting to like it more and more.
Nevermind the fact that Microsoft paid for Skype with offshore cash which means the $8.5 billion price tag was actually less if you factored in taxes saved, but there are a few things that could make this a worthwhile acquisition:
- Reach - Skype has north of 600 million registered users. This is Facebook-like in terms of its user base.
- Ubiquity - Skype has been pushing hard to be a ubiquitous service with regards to device, location, etc. Skype wants to be in the living room, the mobile phone, etc. So does Microsoft. This could be a natural connection and way to penetrate more areas of our lives.
- Competition - The biggest goal here may have been to keep Skype out of the hands of Google or other companies.
There is a great deal of products that Microsoft could integrate Skype into whether it is the Windows Phone or XBox or the Office productivity software. I look forward to seeing how this develops.