Microsoft to buy Skype for $8.4bn

Cobbydaler · 10-05-2011, 17:40

Interesting to see how they develop it.

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

Sirius · 10-05-2011, 17:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobbydaler

Interesting to see how they develop it.

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

Oh crap

**Graham M** · 10-05-2011, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

Oh crap

My thoughts exactly when I saw the thread title

Jameseh · 10-05-2011, 18:09

Xbox Live voice communication: 4
PSN voice communication: 1

Otherwise apart from a little M$ branding Skype stays the same so there's nothing to worry about.

**Graham M** · 10-05-2011, 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Xbox Live voice communication: 4
PSN voice communication: 1

Otherwise apart from a little M$ branding Skype stays the same so there's nothing to worry about.

Im not so sure, I have a feeling the tech will get merged into WLM and be bad (tm)

Sirius · 10-05-2011, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Xbox Live voice communication: 4
PSN voice communication: 1

Otherwise apart from a little M$ branding Skype stays the same so there's nothing to worry about.

Soon as MS get hold of Skype you can kiss it goodbye as MS changes it to a POS product

**Chris** · 10-05-2011, 19:12

Yuck. Bye bye, Skype.

Are there any examples of Micro$haft retaining competitor brands? Because my impression is that they ultimately always fold their acquisitions into their own branding. If I were a betting man, I'd have money on Skype becoming 'powered by MSN' within 12 months and then disappearing completely within 2 years.

I would also put money on support for non-M$ platforms becoming increasingly lukewarm.

Zee · 10-05-2011, 19:48

It'll prob become a Windows Live product and get intergrated into Windows Messenger

Sirius · 10-05-2011, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee

It'll prob become a Windows Live product and get intergrated into Windows Messenger

If that happens i will need to find an alternative. MS the killer of innovative companies

**Paul M** · 10-05-2011, 20:33

Glad I never bothered with skype.

Chrysalis · 10-05-2011, 22:02

wow way overpaid.

So basically start company, get large userbase, dont worry about profit. Eventually some big corp will buy out.

**Damien** · 11-05-2011, 08:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

wow way overpaid.

So basically start company, get large userbase, dont worry about profit. Eventually some big corp will buy out.

Why even worry about the user base? The current 'start-up' industry has many companies that are doing exactly how you describe, they literally start and run the company with no thought into how to make it into a self-staining profitable business and instead aim to 'flip' it. I.E They run with the hope they get acquired. Investors also think this is a sensible strategy and invest.

If you want any further proof they there is going to be another crash this is another reason why. Stupid valuations for companies, people investing in businesses with no business plan. Only this time instead of it being a dot.com crash it's going to be a social start up crash.

---------- Post added at 08:58 ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Are there any examples of Micro$haft retaining competitor brands? Because my impression is that they ultimately always fold their acquisitions into their own branding. If I were a betting man, I'd have money on Skype becoming 'powered by MSN' within 12 months and then disappearing completely within 2 years.
.

I would be very surprised if they changed the brand because surely that is partly what they paid for. The technology in Skype isn't anything beyond the wit of Microsoft to create. I think they will keep the brand exactly as is but merge some of it's features into it's other platforms. Especially exciting if they add it to Windows Phone.

**Chris** · 11-05-2011, 09:01

I hope you're right, but I'm not confident about it. Microsoft's strategy over many years has been to buy up competing technologies and then absorb them into the MS/Windows ecosystem, at the expense of openness and compatibility. Can a leopard change its spots?

**Damien** · 11-05-2011, 09:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

I hope you're right, but I'm not confident about it. Microsoft's strategy over many years has been to buy up competing technologies and then absorb them into the MS/Windows ecosystem, at the expense of openness and compatibility. Can a leopard change its spots?

There are signs they are getting better and trending away from those things. I think Microsoft is a company with clever people that could fight off the dangers from Apple and Google if they were not run an idiot.

**Stuart** · 11-05-2011, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

Why even worry about the user base? The current 'start-up' industry has many companies that are doing exactly how you describe, they literally start and run the company with no thought into how to make it into a self-staining profitable business and instead aim to 'flip' it. I.E They run with the hope they get acquired. Investors also think this is a sensible strategy and invest.

Youtube is a good example of this. The founders set it up with no real way to make money from it. Then sold it to Google, who, having paid $billions for it, are frankly still looking for ways to make anything from it..

Also, look at Myspace, Bebo and any one of a hundred other social networking sites..