Microsoft retire Window Live Messenger for Skype
Microsoft has announced its intent to close its instant messenger chat tool “Windows Live Messenger” in early 2013, and replace it with Skype’s messenger tool. After almost two years after its Skype acquisition in 2011, Microsoft is finally fully embracing its $8.5 billion Internet communication technology. Analysts have predicted that Microsoft will one day focus on Skype in order to move into the social media market, and eventually to the mobile computing market. Recent reports have suggested that the numbers Window Live Messenger’s users had fallen to 8.3 million in the US, representing a 48% on a yearly basis. Skype, on the other hand, had seen growth in the same period.
I think it is a poor move for the tech giant to focus solely on Skype. Although Window Live Messenger and Skype are basically competitors in the same company, they can still both be successful if they operate in different paths. By combining the two, it will be a merge of work and leisure. Window Live Messenger symbolizes leisure with the integration of games and other fancy applications into the program, while Skype shows the work aspect with stable communication network and cheap international calls. If Window Live Messenger joins Skype, Microsoft must then incorporate games to attract younger users, but risk losing business users in return. I personally believe that it will greatly benefit Microsoft if the two companies are to operate in different directions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20222998