It's official: Microsoft to buy Skype

[nsane.forums]

This morning's press release announced that the price that Microsoft is paying for Skype will indeed be $8.5 billion in cash, as previously revealed on Monday night by the AllThingsDigital web site.

Confirming rumors that started hitting the Internet last Sunday, Microsoft has now officially announced its plans to acquire Skype, the Internet phone software company.

According to the press release, this major move by Microsoft "will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities." The deal will also "extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services." The deal is still subject to government regulatory approvals but Microsoft hopes to close the deal sometime in 2011.

Microsoft plans to use Skype, which has 170 million registered users, for many of its products, saying in its press release, "Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities." Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms." The deal will turn Skype into its own division inside of Microsoft. Skype's current CEO Skype Tony Bates will be the president of the new Microsoft Skype Division and will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Ballmer is quoted in the press release as saying, "“Tony Bates has a great track record as a leader and will strengthen the Microsoft management team. I’m looking forward to Skype’s talented global workforce bringing its insights, ideas and experience to Microsoft."

Rumors of a Skype acquisition started on Thursday when it was reported that the company was in talks with both Facebook and Google. However, Microsoft's name entered the fray on Sunday as a possible partner for Skype. This is one of the biggest acquisitions ever conducted by Microsoft.

View: Original Article

[DKT27]

Ballmer: Microsoft Won't Tie Skype to Windows

Microsoft will integrate Skype's calling features into many of its key products, including Office, the Xbox and its Windows Phone software, but it will it will also continue to offer Skype for competing platforms, CEO Steve Ballmer said Tuesday.

"Products and services that Skype users know today will grow and be enhanced," Ballmer said at a San Francisco press conference to announce the deal. "We will continue to invest in Skype for non-Microsoft devices."

It's an important message for Microsoft to sell, since Skype's massive user base -- which includes users of the iPhone, Android phones and other competing devices -- is a big part of why it agreed to pay US$8.5 billion to buy the company. The deal is Microsoft's biggest to date, and it needs to be sure that Skype users won't flock to alternatives like Google Talk after the acquisition.

Skype has 170 million active users, and is registering 600,000 new users each day, Ballmer said. "The number of users is accelerating, which is really exciting to me," he said.

Microsoft considered partnering with Skype but decided to buy the company because of the central role online video calls are having in communications, and because Microsoft can do more with Skype's technology through an acquisition, Ballmer said.

"We'll move beyond emails and text to rich communications experiences in the future," Ballmer said. "Talking to friends and colleagues around the world will be as seamless as talking to them across kitchen table or the conference room."

Microsoft made an unsolicited offer to the investment group that owns Skype, led by Silverlake Partners, in April, and signed the deal Monday night, Ballmer said. Microsoft expects to close the deal this calendar year, pending regulatory approvals.

"This is a big day for Microsoft and a big day for Skype," Ballmer said with his usual enthusiasm. "By bringing together the best of Microsoft and the best of Skype, we will empower people around the world with new technologies that should bring them closer together."

It wasn't clear how Microsoft will make Skype any easier to use for non-Microsoft users. But it's likely that Windows users will be able to fire up a Skype call quickly from within Outlook or Office, for example, or on a Windows phone.

"It's pretty obvious today that not everyone is doing video, particularly from their phone," Ballmer said. "That's an opportunity where there are lots of things that can be done."

Increased advertising revenue is another key driver for Microsoft, Ballmer said. Skype has just started to run full page ads at the start of video conference calls, and Ballmer hopes to build on that with new advertising opportunities.

"We think advertising is a very power monetization scheme for us," said Skype CEO Tony Bates, who joined Ballmer on stage.

Skype had $860 million in revenue last year and is "a strong and growing business," said Microsoft CFO Peter Klein. Its revenue is growing by 20 percent a year, he said. Its earnings before taxes and other deductions were $264 million last year, and are growing at 40 percent a year, he said.

Microsoft has big customer bases for many of its products and wants to link them together through Skype, Ballmer said. "We want to stitch together the world," he said.

He sees more business users connecting via Skype calls in the future, and also sees video calls allowing parents to attend Parent Teacher Association meetings remotely, for example, or gamers to play online as if they are in the same room.

He seemed particularly excited about the opportunities in business, and said Skype will enhance Microsoft's new unified communications product, Lync.

View: Original Article

[Bizarre™]

M$ pulled a fast one :bag:

[ck_kent]

There goes Microsoft again - buying what it can't/won't beat. I wonder if there are any ulterior motives buying Skype considering Skype makes zero profit. :unsure:

[T4C Fantasy]

There goes Microsoft again - buying what it can't/won't beat. I wonder if there are any ulterior motives buying Skype considering Skype makes zero profit. :unsure:

skype mmakes insane profit

[Olexijl]

Latest Skype versions are not compatible with ATI Catalyst drivers (11.3 - 11.5): Link

[dim505]

ohh boy, Microsoft is starting to become a monoply