Two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post titled Is Skype in Trouble?, since that time it seems that Skype has started to prepare for the arrival of AOL’s AIM Phoneline, which allows anyone who uses AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) to make free outgoing calls to anywhere in the United States. It seems as though Skype has stepped it up a bit, and has decided to compete head-on with AIM Phoneline in order to retain current customers and attract new ones.
Skype is now offering free SkypeOut calls to anywhere in the United States and Canada for free. Many have called this move brilliant and others have called it a stunt. But will this act of generosity on the behalf of Skype be enough to fend off the competition of AIM Phoneline?
It very much seems as though Skype is worrying about new competition entering the market. Not only do they have to worry about competition from the more known VoIP providers in the U.S. such as Vonage, but now Skype has to worry about competition that will be using Skype’s traditional model of having and instant messaging client bundled with VoIP capabilities.
Personally I think that the move made by Skype will allow them to retain their current customers, and allow for current customers that didn’t use SkypeOut to start using the pay- service after the end of the year, once they realize how beneficial the service is. Skype might be able to retain new customers, but there is no doubt that current users of AIM will be more prone to use AIM Phoneline than have to download a new piece of software, have to pay for the service, and go through the tedious task of registering for a new service. In essence the switching costs are too high for current users of AIM. One last thing that I would like to add is that I do not believe that AOL will keep the AIM Phoneline calling service as a free service over the course of the next few years; they will eventually have to start charging for the service.
0 Responses to “Skype Prepares for the Competition?”