Businessweek gets it wrong IMHO.
Just finished reading EBay Pressured to Move on Skype - And i have to say i think they got this one VERY wrong in my humble opinion, why?
Skype is in Voip what, Ebay is in Online Auctions, what Windows is for OS etc…
It kinda goes, unless you f*ck it up yourself nobody is going take your place because you are that big, and i think a very important part of it can be seen at CES currently, i’ve seen quite a few pieces regarding Skype Phones in all different forms coming out. And anybody who’s done hardware development will tell you it’s not easy and it takes a long time, so for anybody to take marketshare from Skype Hardware devices it will be a long road.
Another very strong factor for skype is it’s users, somehow it’s become the “professional” instant messaging (IM) client, and the users aren’t going to jump just like that, and IM is a very big part of it! (I know the % of users using it for IM, but since i couldn’t find it anywhere i will keep it to myself for now)
So to sum up, i think Skype is unbeatable in it’s current form from the top, i might be wrong, but they reached tipping point in terms of users, and i have a VERY hard time anybody taking over unless skype screws it up themselfs.
(Disclosure: Yes Morten my Partner at LundKenner was initial investor in skype, hence we have strong ties with them, but the above was pure my own rumblings!)
