2007-10-13

Monetizing Skype

I found this post by Larry Barrett : Skype Co-Founder Admits Expectations Were Too High.

Some interesting phrases caught my attention:
  • Skype now generates only $1.60 (revenue) per subscriber per year
  • the barriers to competition are low and alternative offerings from the likes of Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and AOL have emerged
  • Skype outlined part of its plan (in September) to monetize its communications platform by launching its first Web service for developers looking to build mashup applications in the Skype environment
  • Skype plans to incorporate more payment options for users who want to play games or buy widgets and applications developed on the Skype platform.
And also in The Times:
Looks promising! Skype is still alive. The only items i don’t feel good about are the games and widgets!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

$1.60 based on how many users? It makes a huge difference how you count them. If you use your 40 million figure, which isn't far off, the revenue would be a lot more than $1.60 per user. I'm surprised that you would fail to mention this.

Jean Mercier said...

I agree completely with your comment! And i was (or am) waiting for the quarterly results to correct the statement of "1.6" above!

That is the reason why i didn't correct the statement!

Nafcom said...

Jean, the games Extras is exactly what makes Skype enjoyable for me. It's something I don't want to miss anymore

Jean Mercier said...

OK, Jörg, you have a point!

Games isn't my stuff (it doesn't mean i never game).