The business/technology experiment that is Skype continues to evolve with the launch of two new fee-based services. SkypeIn is particularly intriguing because it gives Skype subscribers a telephone number for the first time. It’s a nice complement to SkypeOut, which makes it possible for Skype users to make calls to people on the PSTN network. The company, which is starting to look more like VOIP service provider than a P2P communications tool, also unveiled a voice-mail product.
Skype is betting – hoping, praying? – that some of its 29 million users will buy fee-based services rather than just sticking to the free computer-based service. The way Skype sees it; a small percentage of fee-paying customers is enough because the company’s costs are so low.
I continue to sit in the skeptic camp. Until Skype discloses revenue and profit figures, there is no way of determining if its disruptive technology can provide the foundation for a viable business. Skype may claim it one million people have used its SkypeOut service but there’s no way of knowing how much money theses consumers have spent or how many of them are repeat customers. As we have all learned in recent years, there are many different way to torque numbers.
Still, you have to give Skype credit for trying to push its business model forward. The launch, for example, of new Skype-enable handsets from hardware makers such as Siemens could be a great way for Skype to shuck off its image as a NetPhone-like PC-based service.