How has Skype benefited from the explosion of the mobile internet and smartphones over the past two years?
Making Skype available everywhere through mobile devices is essential to fulfilling the company’s vision of “enabling the world’s conversations”; and the explosion of mobile internet and smartphones over recent years has played an important role in helping us do just that.
Today, Skype is available across most OS platforms, either through direct to consumer downloads or via operator partnerships. Skype for Symbian launched in March this year, has enabled more than 200 million smartphone users to have Skype at their fingertips.
And our iPhone app, which now offers calling over Wi-Fi as well as 3G, has had more than 12 million downloads, making that approximately 15% of all iPhone and iPod touch users. Skype has led in revolutionizing video communications, now available on the mobile platform, starting with the
Nokia N9000.
What’s the market like for non-smartphone users?
Our plan is to make Skype available on a broad range of mobile phones/ devices and platforms so that our users can have Skype conversations wherever and whenever they are. As the industry changes and evolves, we are evaluating new ways to provide users with a mobile Skype experience. We have and will continue to partner with mobile device manufacturers and are targeting mobile platforms where we are able to deliver optimal Skype end-user experiences.
What’s your main focus at CommunicAsia2010?
Our participation in CommunicAsia underlines Skype’s continued commitment to Asia, with the event providing a targeted platform to showcase how Skype works across different platforms and devices.