Friday March 9, 2007
Skype tops 500 million downloads
LUXEMBOURG, March 7, 2007 – Skype, the global Internet communications company, today announced that its software has been downloaded more than 500 million times by users around the world, extending its mark as one of the most popular free downloads of all time. Skype™ makes it easy for anyone with a broadband internet connection to make free and very cheap unlimited calls worldwide.
This milestone was reached in slightly over 42 months time, counting from when Skype was first introduced in beta at the end of August 2003.
"The entire Skype team owes its success to the global community of registered users we have today who tell their loved ones how much they enjoy using Skype. We’re absolutely delighted that so many people are embracing Skype and speaking to friends or family all over the world for free or very little cost." said Skype CEO and co-founder Niklas Zennström.
A little over three years ago, Skype developed a little piece of software that allowed anyone to experience high-quality, unlimited voice communication over the Internet. Today, people are using Skype to express themselves via free voice, video, conference calling and instant messaging communication, as well as Skype’s paid-for products including Skype Pro.
Skype Pro is a new Internet communications package offering zero cents per minute calls to domestic landlines along with a series of premium Skype features and discounts on Skype Certified™ hardware. Connection fees apply.
Skype in Numbers:
* Six people download Skype every second
* Skype to Skype minutes in Q4 2006 alone totaled 7.6 billion minutes
* In September 2005, Skype had 54 million registered users and today it has over 171 million registered users worldwide
