Skype's Inflated User Numbers

[mandy]

Skype still refuses to disclose how many active users it has, using the meaningless metrics of downloads and registered user names. What's sort of amusing about all of this is that, in some sense, Skype's insistence on the inflated user figures actually makes it look worse than if it disclosed more accurate figures. After all, if the company keeps claiming that its user base is exploding (when going by the downloads number), but its revenues, and more importantly, profits aren't keeping pace, eBay investors aren't likely to look too favorably upon Skype, or the billions eBay paid for it...

full article: http://techdirt.com/articles/20070702/110602.shtml

more:

ean Mercier: Well, Skype claims indeed that they have now about 200 million users. This is quite a lot more than the almost 10 million concurrent users online that we can perceive in our Skype client at some moments during weekdays (9.6 million was the maximum number I observed). As far as I know Skype is the only VoIP tool to provide online user numbers in their software.

The difference between both numbers has several explanations: Not everybody is logged into Skype 24 hours a day, but also the 200 million users is in fact a lie - Skype has 200 million registered usernames - not actual users!

full article: http://mathaba.net/news/?x=556871

[FiberGuy]

That would be eBay math. 

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=FiberGuy link=topic=12723.msg59162#msg59162 date=1183472115]


That would be eBay math. 
[/quote]