No Change in Skype Strategy After Microsoft Merger: CEO
Special to CNBC.com
Skype will continue to offer products across all platforms after it becomes a division of Microsoft, Chief Executive Tony Bates told CNBC Tuesday.
"Part of Skype’s value proposition is how we reach hundreds of millions of people around the world in our community," Bates said. "So there’s going to be no change in that strategy whatsoever."
However, where Skype can to create "opportunities to optimize experiences" through Microsoft's many products, "we'll take advantage of that," he said.
Microsoft said Tuesday it would buy the Luxembourg-based company for $8.5 billion, its largest acquisition. Among other things, Skype would give Microsoft a foothold in the video-conferencing market, expected to grow as businesses cut back on travel expenses. Tony Bates would head a new Microsoft Skype division.
"Communications is one of the big scenarios that’s driving our financial success, and Skype is going to accelerate that," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told CNBC.
He said Skype provides several revenue streams, including an advertising business that is "nascent" but has great potential.
"We get a chance to combine that with the value-add that comes with really connecting up to Microsoft devices," he said, particularly in the enterprise business segment, "where we can put people in control of their communications across their work life and their personal life. I think there's a big revenue opportunity in that as well."
