9malls.com review of Skype.com Rating: ****  4 out of 5 stars Web site: www.Skype.com What is Skype? Skype is free software that allows you to call others who also has the Skype software installed on their computers. The software is free to download and free to call others who have the program. Skype also offers paid subscription plans not unlike those offered by your local phone company. For $29.95 per year you can get unlimited calling within the US and Canada. Skype also offers a 2.1 cents a minute plan where you can call 30 worldwide destination. There is a connection fee of $0.039 charged for each call. To view the complete list on what's free and what's not at Skype visit http://www.skype.com/products/priceoverview/. Skype's official description of the company as found on Alexa.com is: Peer to peer internet voice service. Mac, Windows and Linux versions available. Users may call landlines and cellphones for a fee; users may call each other for free. Skype.com Review: Skype.com was developed by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. These same two people also founded the successful Kazza file sharing software. Skype software was such a great idea that eBay took notice and bought out the company for 2.6 billion. eBay at the time was criticized that it paid too much for the company. Skype.com at the web site Alexa.com is rated at 4 out 5 stars out of eight reviews. Most people say that they love Skype others complain that the voice quality is not up to the standard land line. A lot of people mention that they use Skype.com for their business' especially when going global. On ePinions.com Skype is rated at 3 ½ out of 5. Most people rate Skype at 5, but a few rated Skype.com at a 1. Most low raters complain about the voice quality and the Skype paid services. Finances: When eBay purchased oSkype the company had forward looking 2005 projected earnings of 60 million (http://www.tmcnet.com/news/2005/sep/1180796.htm). "Skpye to Skype minutes in fourth quarter 2006 were about 7.6 billion minutes, up 16% sequentially and up 46% from prior year quarter (http://www.123jump.com/earnings-calls/eBay-Fourth-Quarter-Earnings-Call/20630/41)." Standard and Poor's believes that the purchase of Skype was "not very strategic and excessively overpriced." In 2006 eBay had earning of 5,970 (Millions $). In 2005 eBay posted earning of 4,552 (Millions $) representing a 31% year over year increase in revenue from 2005 to 2006. eBay was founded in 1995, currently has 12,600 employees, and has 3700 stock holders at the time of this review. The president and CEO of eBay at P.M. Omidyar. What I think of Skype: I really like Skype as a concept, but I don't like Skype.com's prices. Call me cheap, but I still think that this technology should be a free service not a paid service. I mean you're already paying for an internet connection which is really all you need to make phone calls over the web. Skype is just one of the many pieces of software available that allow you to do this. I believe Skype should make calling to US and Canada free of charge and change their business model to an advertising based one. Out of many Internet phone companies, however, Skype.com has some of the lowest prices and it's a great piece of software so I DO recommend them. Disclaimer: Please do your own research especially for financial data. I'm writing this review to the best of my ability based on the information I've obtained and analyzed. Please look at this review as general information and not as a financial statement for Skype. Back to 9malls.com