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Comment by pdx | Hacker News Reader

I predict, based on the skype and nokia licensing deal (and this of course, if it's true) that MS will remove skype from the IOS and Android platforms, forcing anybody who wants mobile skype onto MS phones. This would cause a large reason for customers who are on the fence to choose MS phones.

I suspect desktop skype will stay free and unchanged, but IOS and Android skype will be gone soon.

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I doubt they will remove Skype from iOS and Android. That would be incredibly shortsighted, limiting the total amount of people who could potentially use Skype. Those who use Skype currently would switch to Facetime/Google Voice/some new service.

No-one would switch to WP7 just for Skype either. I suspect that MS will try to capitalise on the users on other platforms by attempting to up-sell them on other services. Perhaps a premium service for business users.

Skype 6: "like groove for voip"

For the contrary MSFT will install Skype to every mobile device possible (maybe even feature phones).

Then MSFT will use Skype for extortion.

It will threaten cellular operators to pay them to disable Skype or make it WiFi-only.

I suspect that they wouldn't be that stupid. That would alienate sizable parts of the Skype userbase. Microsoft is stupid, but not that stupid. This seems like pure paranoia to me.

Not paranoia. I don't care. If anything, I want it to happen, as I have a few VOIP ideas that can't compete with a free Skype everywhere.

The reason to buy skype is for it's name, not for it's tech, as everybody agrees it's tech is not worth $8B. The name is only important if it gets you something. It will get you phone sales if you're the only one offering it on a phone.

Until the brand atrophies because you're giving a competitor a world-class opportunity by vacating 90%+ of the smartphone market.

Now, what's more likely, is the way Google handles it's Maps, Nav, etc: It's available for iPhone but it's way better on Android.

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