Why Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion

[Alexsayman]

Just days after reports that Google and Facebook were interested in partnering with, and possibly buying VoIP company Skype, Microsoft announced that it was buying the company for $8.56 billion in cash.
Last year, Skype had revenue of $860 million on which it posted an operating profit of $264 million. However, overall it made a small loss of $7 million, and had long-term debt of $686 million. This is the second time Skype has been bought out; after being started in 2003, it was purchased by eBay in 2005 for $3.1 billion. EBay then sold the majority of its stake in 2009 to a private investment group for $1.2 billion less than it paid.
More information look this news(http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/microsoft-buys-skype-2/)

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[steveflintoff]

Many of the users are wondering if they are going to have to pay for the service which has been free for so long. Some of the users are paying for the upgrade services that Skype provides but we all know that the majority are using it for free. That's over 600 million users. The big question is, will Microsoft lose or gain users depending on what they intend to do with the technology.