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Skype Reaches Half A Billion Downloads |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Thursday, 08 March 2007 |
It has taken more than three years, but the Skype peer to peer telephony client has reached a milestone that makes it one of the most downloaded free pieces of software on the planet.
The first Skype client was introduced in beta format at the end of
August 2003 slightly over 42 months ago. Since then the client has been
downloaded more than 500 million times by users around the world.
The current rate of downloads gives no indication of letting up. According to the company, six people download Skype every second.
Of course the number of actual users of
Skype is far below that half a billion may indicate. With upgrades and
fixes, most regular users have downloaded the clienta number of times.
All the same there are now 171 million registered users worldwide,
though there are only 6 - 10 million users online at any given time.
The numbers are accelerating, or at least grewsignificantly in 2006. In September 2005 Skype had only 54 million registered users.
Skype to Skype minutes in Q4 2006 alone totaled 7.6 billion minutes.
An awesome achievement, but a poignant reminder of what has happened in the lives of Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Though the two were already on their way after the success of file sharing platform Kaaza, the direction their careers have taken in past three and a half years is no less than miraculous.
"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-founderNiklas Zennström.
On February 21 this year, co-founder Janus Friis reportedly had a “private conversation ” in the first class toilet on board Virgin Atlantic flight VS7. Friis and Christina Knudsen, the stepdaughter of James Bond (Sir Roger Moore). The two deny any hanky panky, but did try to extend their tête-à-tête by sharing a reclining bed.
www.skype.com.
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