Skype

Voice of the people

“Skype lets people see each other with video calling, send instant messages, create their own mood messages, support their businesses . . . there’s just so much you can do with Skype when you’re online.” Trusting in the vision is all very well, but can Zennstrom really have believed Skype would have taken off quite as it did, becoming the fastest-growing communications company in history. He is, to be fair, amazed, but still believes he understands the reason for its growth – partly ease of use but, more importantly perhaps that magic ingredient in any marketeers armory – word of mouth.

“The response to our technology has been amazing,” he said. “But what has made Skype so popular is that it is so easy to use even your grandmother can understand it. But, like many other companies out there, we have learned that the most powerful thing of all is not you telling the world how great you are, but when someone else does it for you. Skype has been a great success and I am very happy that I have had the chance to make this happen.” He does, genuinely, seem happy to have been a driver of this phenomenon, which begs the question of why he sold up to eBay. Was it simply an offer he couldn't refuse?

“I have always been an active entrepreneur and I am very passionate about technology – especially those technologies which disrupt markets and offer the consumer more choice at a better cost,” he said.
“I am very happy that Skype’s success was recognised by eBay and feel that all eBay’s businesses fundamentally compliment one another. Skype fits in perfectly with eBay’s multi-brand strategy, which provides the company with a sustainable competitive advantage.”

Of course, the eBay move made business sense for Skype in a VOIP world developing so fast. All the major telecoms players were developing technologies and launching services or partnerships in the market place and traditional telephony, indeed, traditional communication, has changed forever.
Again, Zennstrom demonstrates an acute awareness of his market when he identifies that's it's the consumer driving much of this change.

“Since the launch of Skype in 2002, consumer awareness of VoIP has significantly grown in both understanding how the technology works and what the consumer benefits are,” he explains.

“Today we are still seeing a phenomenal growth in consumer and business users. The VoIP market has matured and is no longer the domain of geek-chic but has become accessible to mainstream consumers. VoIP is a term that will become obsolete as we move into the expansive realm of Internet communications. Internet communications is a rapid growth market; a huge shift recently has been the ability to use Skype away from the PC with a whole range of WiFi phones and dual phones as well as mobile devices such as the Pocket PC.”