Skype is aiming sky-high – looking to lure 1 billion users to its network.
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“Billions.”
That how many users the now Microsoft-owned Skype hopes to have chatting on its free VOIP network in the future, Skype boss Tony Bates told All Things D conference this week.
And this is one billion daily users – an objective Bates voiced when MS took over the Internet company last year.
But “if we can get to a billion (users), I’d be very happy”, he said.
This means Skype will have it work cut out to quadruple its current user numbers.
Skype now has 250m users connecting to Skype monthly, Bates revealed at AllThingsD, an 80 million rise compared to when Microsoft took over the Internet calling network last year, paying a hefty US$8.5 billion.
Bates also likened Skype to “a virtual kitchen table.”
“Ultimately, videoconferencing isn’t defined by one device. We see the world having it where you want and when you want it. “
But it is hoping its tie-in with Facebook’s 901 m+ members will bring it well on its way towards the kitchen table.
“They’re the partner of choice,” he said of The Social Network, and allows “us to become the de facto standard for voice and video communication,” Bates said, also hinting at deeper integration with other platforms including iOS and Android.
Funny, Apple CEO Tim Cook also hinted deeper integration with Facebook at the same conference a day previous. (Well we all want friends I guess).
And mobile is also the key to Skype’s future growth potential. “The top priority is definitely mobile,” Skype’s boss conceeded.
And he also hinted the VOIP Platform will “double down” its efforts on Windows 8, Microsoft’s come-to-Jesus new OS which will be used across smartphones, tabs and PCs, released later this year.
And since just about every smartphone worth its sausage runs the Skype application (bar BlackBerry in Australia, at least), and mobile users rising daily, this one billion figure may not be just pie in the sky.
