Microsoft ditches Windows Live Messenger for Skype
 

Microsoft has announced it intends to "retire" its instant message chat tool and replace it with Skype's messaging tool.

The news comes 18 months after the software giant announced it was paying $8.5bn (£5.3bn) for the communications software developer.

Microsoft said Windows Live Messenger (WLM) would be turned off by March 2013 worldwide, with the exception of China.

It reflects the firm's determination to focus its efforts on Skype.

WLM launched in 1999 when it was known as MSN Messenger. Over time, photo delivery, video calls and games were added to the package's text-based messages.

In 2009, the firm said it had 330 million active users.

Chat 'cannibalisation'

According to internet analysis firm Comscore, WLM still had more than double the number of Skype's instant messenger facility at the start of this year and was second only in popularity to Yahoo Messenger.

But the report suggested WLM's US audience had fallen to 8.3 million unique users, representing a 48% drop year-on-year. By contrast, the number of people using Skype to instant message each other grew over the period.

"When a company has competing products that can result in cannibalisation it's often better to focus on a single one," said Brian Blau from the consultancy Gartner.

"Skype's top-up services offer the chance to monetise its users and Microsoft is also looking towards opportunities in the living room.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20222998

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