Skype starts to slow down

It looks like Skype’s revolutionary plans do not come true. The number of users of this program is no longer growing as rapidly as before. Such conclusions can be made if we analyze the statistics published by eBay Corporation. Please note that the table does not indicate “users”, but “accounts”. It is clear that the number of accounts can be several times more than the number of active users. ARPU is almost not growing and is only 40 cents.



The most alarming moment in all statistics is that the flow of new subscribers from the United States is almost completely stopped.

Despite the fact that the total number of users has increased by as much as 24 million people, the number of paid Skype Out minutes has remained the same as in Q4. 2006, namely 1.5 billion
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As you can see, even the number of free minutes within the network has remained almost unchanged (7.7 billion).

These are clear signs that Skype’s rapid growth phase is coming to an end. The reasons for this may be many. Dozens of similar services appeared on the Internet based on open protocols that provide better quality at a lower price (for example, GTalk and Gizmo Project). Not to mention the strong competition from commercial telecoms, which hastily roll out their own VoIP services.

Well, another reason for the decline in the rate of growth of Skype is the inability to master the mobile platform, without which promising development is simply impossible.

via Skype Journal