Microsoft believes it can attract hundreds of millions more by weaving Skype into its products. Microsoft stock was virtually unchanged, falling 0.6 percent.Ībout 170 million people worldwide who use Skype regularly for calls and chats.

Skype's services also span hot markets - online socializing, mobile phones and digital video - where Microsoft has been struggling to catch up with Facebook, Apple and Google.Īnalysts and investors couldn't seem to agree whether Microsoft is wasting its money on an unprofitable service or has pulled off a coup that will help it restore clout. If it wins regulatory approval, the deal announced Tuesday provides Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, with the means to sell more digital advertising and offer more popular conferencing tools to help businesses save money.

Presumably, Microsoft thinks this makes its business tools software productions more attractive.Microsoft's $8.5 billion purchase of Skype is supposed to make using the Internet for video phone calls as common as logging on to Facebook or instant messaging is today. This allows businesses to forgo more expensive video call technology. It also has made Skype into a business video conference call technology. It has been integrated into the software company's business server tools, particularly. Microsoft has incorporated Skype into some of its business services. ( MSFT) paid $8.5 billion for it in 2011.ĪLSO READ: 10 Cities and 10 Companies Where Tech Talent Is Way Underpaid After it passed through other hands, Microsoft Corp. That made it a father of the 'unicorn' category. ( EBAY) bought the company for over $2.5 billion in 2005. The innovations of the product were great enough that eBay Inc. It was a time when long distance calls, particularly those made overseas, could still be expensive, and video call technology was not available to most people at all. When Skype was launched in 2003, the notion that people could connect via video call was something new, particularly because the service was free. That 300 million hardly makes Skype invisible, no matter how little it shows up as a primary means to connect people and businesses.

However, Skype arguably has more useful features that some of these newer technologies, at least for people who want to mimic phone calls and video communications for free. Skype has somewhere close to 300 million active users, which puts it on par with Twitter Inc. Skype, the revolutionary free video call service, is still here, although it rarely gets discussed in the world of Snap Inc.

Who owns skype technologies inc