2007-07-22

Downloads UP UP UP ???

Strange, while i’ve been on Holidays, i didn’t check the concurrent users online neither the downloads. Some minutes ago i made an update of my numbers and …

Downloads have gone up dramatically as shown on the graph below.

Indeed, the number of downloads were 500 per minute in June. Now, since about July 14 (French National Day?) it is around 1750 downloads per minute!

The only sensible explanation i see is the “Pakistan and India campaign” Skype launched in July, cutting SkypeOut prices in half! See here “From Lahore to Bangalore”.

Will this be the next Skype boost?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since Skype became a part of the eBay empire, most of Europe has been totally ignored. Instead, all focus has been on the US market where Skype Pro is something totally different than it is on the European market. For example: in Sweden, there are today fixed line phone companies which offér more competetive rates than Skype - and you even don't need to fuss with your computer, or be anxious about bad sound quality (which is a serious problem with SkypeOut calls). What probably killed Skype in Sweden is the excessive "opening charge" - which is one of the hightest in the market. My conlusion is that the US market is mature, Skype lost Europe, and is now trying to boast number by various campaigns in third world countries like India.

Jean Mercier said...

Yes, pity for Skype. Indeed, eBay is trying to focus on money generation instead of viral growth! I guess it is the wrong strategy. Viral growth has proven to work ... and generate money!

And, there still IS growth potential in Europe.

Think about quite a lot of big companies who block Skype, and the many people who have a laptop from their employer: no way to use Skype!