Well this is an interesting turn of events.
The last couple of days there has been a lot of chatter in the the tech blogosphere about the possible purchase, or deep partnership, of Skype with either Facebook or Google looking to seal the deal.
While there is some sense to the Facebook and Skype deal many are suggesting that any deal between Skype and Google would be just to keep Skype out of the hands of Facebook.
Then this morning we get news that there might be a dark horse in these discussions: Microsoft.
The rumors are coming out of a post at GigaOM by Om Malik himself and has the possibility of an announcement on the matter as soon as Monday some time; and that people involved in the discussions between Microsoft and Skype are burning the midnight oil, so to speak.
Om makes three good points as to why this deal, or partnership, or investment would make sense for Microsoft:
- Skype would givemMicrosoft a big boost in the hotly contested enterprise collaboration market places, thanks to Skype’s voice, video and sharing capabilities. It would be particularly useful for competing against Cisco and Google, two of its main rivals in the collaboration business.
- It would give them a must-have application/service that can help with the adoption of the future versions of Windows Mobile operating system.
- it would give Microsoft an outside chance of working with carriers, many of them looking to partner with Skype as they start to transition to LTE-based networks.
Like Om I’m not too sure how much sense an outright acquisition of Skype would make much sense but given that Microsoft and Facebook are already working very closely together across many areas the possibility of the two companies making a heavy investment in Skype would make sense; especially if it would give them primary access to the company and its software.
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