U.S. Trade Commission Gives The Green Light To Microsoft's $8.5 Billion Cash Takeover Of Skype

According to what TechCrunch had been hearing then, Microsoft outbid Skype’s at once competitor by nearly two-to-one — and may even have been bidding against itself. Regardless, the tech giant is placing a serious bet on the European VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) provider and anyway you look at it has its sights set on competing with Google in this area. That notion seemed to be telegraphed when Microsoft paid $8.5 knowing that it’s second closest competitor was Google. What’s more, this is Microsoft’s biggest acquisition to date — and undoubtedly one of the largest in the tech industry in recent years.

Now, as for full disclosure, I can’t go a day without using Skype, and I know there are a lot out there who share my addiction. However Skype has never been a particularly profitable business, so the real question for Microsoft is going to be how to make real money off the service. Anyway you look at it, a big part of the deal is that Microsoft is paying for Skype’s some 700 million users as part of a push to get more users to Windows and Office.

The board — Xbox

Microsoft has said that it is going to integrate Skype across the board — Xbox, Outlook, you name it, even though the business itself will remain in a separate division in accordance with the Microsoft umbrella. In practice, although, it’s a big win for Windows users. Although I have to say, it will be strange saying “Microsoft Skype”. If I say it at all.