DISQUS

JimAtJaxtr · 1 year ago

Nice. I wonder if Skype will ever get big into making phones. Then they don't have to worry about making people download their tool. The fewer barriers to users using a tool the better. For instance, at jaxtr, you don't need to download anything to make calls. But nonetheless, it sounds like a cool phone.

Mike42 · 1 year ago

I doubt it. For all its being a verb now, Skype actually has a tiny cashflow from the tiny % of users who actually pay them cash to talk. If they made a phone themselves, they would need to MVNO with a partner to run them on. They already sell WiFi handsets, but they don't make them - others do - Linksys Netgear, Belkin etc. Deciding to make and sell a phone is a seriously expensive, long-term move that requires significant cashflow to back it up. I don't think Skype have that, hence all the devices have been done by others, with Skype licencing their app / brand. eBay could back such a move, but it would be a big fight with existing MNO's.

Interesting that on the 'Skypephone S2' the Skype branding is nowhere to be seen, unlike the S1, where it was in-yer-face. Is this less a Skypephone, more a phone that has Skype, among Facebook, MSN etc?