WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.
Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom has backed the VoIP firm’s acquisition by Microsoft, claiming that the US software giant will help push the service into new areas such as mobile and video. "Skype's full potential hasn't been realised yet," said Zennstrom in an interview with Reuters at the e-G8 Forum in Paris. "I think that Microsoft has a huge opportunity to integrate it into a lot of their different services.
If they do a good job integrating Skype, the company can grow even more." Zennstrom would not be pressed on exactly how Microsoft should incorporate the service into its products, but Microsoft has previously indicated it will look to embed Skype in everything from Outlook to its Xbox Live gaming console.
It is less clear how the US firm intends to use Skype in relation to its Windows Phone platform, but Zennstrom noted that improvements in mobile networks and smartphones could help Skype evolve from its mainly PC-to-PC voice calling model today.
"That is a huge opportunity that still has room to grow," he said.
Zennstrom founded Skype in 2003 (with partner Janus Friis) and was part of the consortium that bought it back from former parent eBay in 2009. Zennstrom is to sell his shares when the Microsoft deal closes, though Skype CEO Tony Bates is to become president of Microsoft’s new Skype Division, reporting directly to CEO Steve Ballmer.
Reuters notes that Microsoft’s shares are down more than 6 percent since the deal was announced two weeks ago, mainly due to concerns that Microsoft overpaid for the business. The US$8.5 billion price tag made it the largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history.
The founders of Skype i must say that they have created something incredible. Their piece of software is used by millions of people from all over the world. Lets hope, now that skype has been bought by microsoft, that the American company will develop much further this instant messaging client.
ReplyDelete