'Skype Days of Summer' - offering free international calls

Posted Jul 10th 2006 1:15PM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, eBay (EBAY)

Skype announced today that U.S. and Canadian Skype users (those based in these countries) will be able to make free calls to landlines and mobile phone in the U.K., Mexico and Japan for the next three weekends starting this coming weekend of July 15-16 with free calls to the United Kingdom (next weekend will be to Mexico, then Japan).

Skype's recent users' survey finds that 70% of Skype users say they use the service "to stay in touch with family and friends abroad, to make inexpensive calls to landlines and mobile phones, and for free calling to other Skype users anywhere in the world." Also, nearly 25% of Skype users surveyed, use it to make 100% of their international calls. 30% say they have friends all over the globe.

Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom are leading destinations for American and Canadian callers. 10 million people who are currently residing in the U.S., and 650,000 in Canada, were born in the United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan, according to U.S. 2000 and Canada 2001 census. Assuming ties to originating country, these are potential Skype users.

While I'm all in favor of boosting Skype's market share and keeping existing users by occasionally offering free perks, and while I can also see how this might entice people to give Skype a tryout, I also noticed from the survey that people shy away from expensive phone calls. If Skype callers are used to free or cheap services, it might be hard for Skype to increase profitability in the long-run.

eBay purchased Skype less than a year ago at a price that many investors and analysts claimed was too high. Skype hadn't justified the purchase price yet.

Tags: ebay, skype