Skype, also known as the original app for having online job interviews, calling relatives in Australia, and even taking a remote class or two before COVID made it mainstream.
Unless you’re too young, chances are you’ve skyped at least once in your life.
Check the Skype statistics below to see what’s been happening with the platform.
Memorable Skype Facts (Editor’s Choice):
- An average professional spends three hours and 12 minutes weekly on Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft Teams.
- 89% of remote working professionals say that video calling helps them feel more connected to their colleagues and supervisors.
- The video conferencing market will likely surpass $75 billion by 2027.
- In 2019, Skype had four billion registered users.
- On average, 40 million people still use Skype on a daily basis.
- Over 300 million people use Skype every month.
- People spend a combined three billion minutes on Skype video calls.
Video Conferencing Facts
Before we dive deep into our collection of Skype statistics, let’s first take a look at some facts about the video call industry in general.
As you know, the global pandemic had a significant effect on the video conferencing market. It wasn’t only schools and businesses that benefited from these solutions. It was also doctor’s offices, personal trainers, and even artists.
Let’s get started.
1. The first video call occured in 1930.
(Source: Britannica)
AT&T used a closed-circuit and a television to communicate its headquarters with Bell Labs, successfully achieving the first two-way video call. Four decades passed before AT&T put the first “picturephone” out in the market—only for it to be a commercial failure.
It wasn’t until the 90s when video conferencing solutions became more affordable and (relatively) popular.
Fun fact: Although the company was created in 2003, Skype users couldn’t do group video calls until 2010!
2. In 2021, 86.5% of employees used video calls to communicate at work.
(Source: Statista)
There are different ways one can handle work-related communication. Unfortunately, with COVID-19 forcing workers out of the office, popping by a colleague’s cubicle was no longer an option for many of us.
During the pandemic, phone calls and emails remained as the primary communication tools for the majority of workers, with 77% of them using these resources every day. Messenger services, for comparison, were the daily go-to for 70% of the workforce.
Web conferencing services saw a surge in popularity, too, with 55.5% of professionals communicating via video platforms every day.
Fun fact: Skype stats show that an hour-long video call uses 225 MB of data. For comparison, the same conversation on Facebook Messenger would take up 260 MB.
3. The global video conferencing market will reach $75 billion by 2027.
(Source: Gminsights)
The market size was just $15 billion in 2020, but projections suggest it will grow at a 23% CAGR until 2027, when—if estimates are accurate—it’ll be worth $75 billion
The US market, in particular, will grow at a 19% CAGR, whereas the Asia Pacific region will probably experience a 26% growth.
Fun fact: An average professional spends an average three hours and 12 minutes weekly on Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft Teams. This indicates a 120% increase in video conferencing compared to pre-pandemic days.
Skype Users
Okay, now that you know a little something about the video conferencing market in general, let’s focus on one of the main players: Skype.
Although other apps may be at the forefront of people’s minds nowadays, Skype was the video conferencing solution of choice for many people back when Zoom wasn’t even in the picture. Now that it is, though, do people still use Skype?
Read on to find out.
4. In 2011, Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion.
(Source: Wired)
Estonian programmers Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis founded Skype in Luxembourg in 2003. Back then, it was basically a VoIP service with video and chat functionality—but a good one at that.
By late 2010, Skype had more than 120 million monthly users, eight million paying subscribers, a revenue of $860 million, and the attention of a big tech company: Microsoft.
After Microsoft’s acquisition, Bill Gates’ company faced some significant challenges to transform Skype into a profitable business and keep it relevant to consumers. This ultimately led to Microsoft retiring Skype for Business in July 2021, replacing it with Microsoft Teams.
5. Microsoft reported four billion people had registered on Skype by 2019.
(Source: Azure)
Back in 2009, the total number of users barely reached 400 million. In 2014, the video-calling service surpassed the one-billion mark. Researchers estimated in 2017 that Skype would reach two billion users in 2023, but it seems that prediction fell quite short.
According to Microsoft, even before the pandemic hit, there were 300 million people on Skype every month, but the total number of registered users was much higher than that, surpassing four billion.
Fun fact: The name of this video conferencing app was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014. In other words, the app was so popular that even dictionaries had to recognize the use of “skype” as a verb.
6. 40 million people use Skype daily.
(Source: The Verge)
It’s no secret that Microsoft has been having some issues with Skype—the very same issues that drove many users into Zoom’s arms. Unsurprisingly, given how Skype’s competitors thrived during the pandemic, Microsoft has shown reluctance to share the latest numbers of its video conferencing app.
The last thing it shared was that 40 million people worldwide used Skype every day in 2020, which suggests a 70% rise in demand due to the pandemic.
7. The US accounts for 13% of Skype.com’s traffic.
(Source: Statista)
Back in September 2021, the website registered 37.8 million unique global visitors. Five months later, Skype’s online users had dropped to 34 million per month.
The site currently ranks #1,911 in the world and #3,100 in the US.
As of 2022, the US and India combined account for nearly 20% of Skype.com’s visits. Russia and Brazil follow, accounting for 5% of the global traffic each.
8. The younger the users are, the more likely they are to Skype on their phone.
(Source: Statista)
Although the majority of people turn on their laptops or desktop computers when they have to attend an online meeting, there are some people who don’t mind just using their phones.
Specifically, Skype stats show that 29% of smartphone users in the 18-29 age group use the app, as do 27% of those who are 30-59 years old, and only 12% of those who are above 60.
Fun fact: Did you know that Skype is compatible with Xbox devices? It makes it easy for you to look at your callers on your TV screen or receive notifications while you’re playing—no need to turn on your laptop or even have your phone at hand to access Skype information or make a call.
9. More than half of the people who use Skype earn $100,000+ annually.
(Source: Statista)
For now, many Skype features are free, so it remains accessible to people with tight budgets. However, this doesn’t mean that its users aren’t high earners.
In fact, it seems like the more people earn, the more they are drawn to Skype. For instance, only 26% of those who make less than $30,000 a year use Skype, but so do 51% of those who take home $100,000 a year or more.
Now, considering that about 29.6 million people in the US fall into the latter bracket, that would mean 15 million users earn at least $100k.
Skype Market Share
If the pandemic happened 10 years ago, Skype would definitely be winning the game. Alas, it’s 2022 and competition is pretty tough.
Let’s take a look at the main competitors in the video-conferencing business and see how Skype is fairing.
10. Skype held 32.4% of the video call market in 2020.
(Source: Tech Republic)
Believe it or not, Skype’s worldwide presence was still quite big when the pandemic hit. In 2020, Zoom (26.4%), Slack (17.7%), Teams (9.7%), and Google Meet (1.6%) all fell behind Skype in terms of popularity.
Alas, Skype wasn’t quite ready to meet the sudden rise in demand, which led to a quick change in people’s loyalties.
By 2021, Zoom led the market with a 48.7% share, while Google Meet (21.8%), Teams (14.5%), and Slack (3.6%) trailed behind. Does Skype still exist?
It does, but it just takes a 6% share nowadays.
11. Zoom vs Skype: What’s the difference?
(Source: Skype)
The main difference between Skype and Zoom is the number of call participants and the alloted time for video conferences. Zoom allows up to 1,000 participants with a premium subscription and only gives you 40 minutes of video-conferencing for free.
Skype online numbers are quite different, though. It only has room for 300 meeting participants but allows you to hold a meeting for 30 hours straight.
Fun fact: The longest video call in history went on, uninterrupted, for 14 days.
12. “Zoombombing” cost the company $85 million.
(Source: The Guardian)
Uninvited guests join Zoom meetings sometimes and broadcast disturbing videos using the screen-sharing feature. This is known as “Zoombombing” and has put into question the app’s security—so much so that 14 complaints were filed against the company.
Skype, on the other hand, has been mostly linked to scandals where people call other users who want to see them commit sex acts (like the AFDA scandal of 2011).
That said, someone did Skype-bomb a school workshop in April, so perhaps this “trend” is something it should start worrying about.
Skype Statistics for 2022
Changes on Skype have been ongoing, as the platform is aiming to compensate for the missed opportunities during the pandemic.
Nowadays, Skype boasts new features, such as a laser pointer, pen, eraser, stamp, shape, highlighter, and insertion of images. Plus, you’re able to see who made changes on the whiteboard and manage the access to it.
But let’s see a few more Skype stats about what the company has to offer in 2022.
13. “Grandma’s B-day” and “10 AM Aerobics” can be featured on your Skype call log.
(Source: Skype)
Have you ever gotten your meetings mixed up?
Well, not anymore. Now, you can choose a name, emoji, and background color for each of your Skype calls.
If you’re not feeling particularly creative when setting up your meeting, you can take one of Skype’s many title suggestions, like Brainstorm Session, Cardio Class, or Happy Hour—who says you can’t use Skype for fun?
Note: Skype is not all about fun, though. If something is wrong and you need to call 911, you can do so directly from the app.
14. A “Meet Now” conference can last up to 24 hours.
(Source: Skype)
“Meet Now” ensures all your guests can attend your meeting—even if they don’t have a Skype account. You can lock and unlock the video conference at any time so you can control who enters your meeting (the limit is 100 participants).
Moreover, Skype created a zoom-in feature that allows for maximizing the screen while on sharing-screen mode. So, you no longer have to squint while trying to decipher what’s on there. And don’t worry—no other participants will know how often you need a closeup.
15. Skype does real-time translation in 35 languages for free.
(Source: Skype)
Skype statistics show that this feature is the result of decades of work. The preview version was available in 2014, but it only catered to English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. A year later, it included five more languages.
Now, Skype’s Universal Translator allows for a seamless conversation in 35 languages, including some that aren’t as widespread, like Bulgarian, Catalan, Estonian, Finnish, Thai, or Vietnamese.
Fun fact: The background noise suppression addition to Skype silences almost everything apart from your voice by analyzing the audio feed and then filtering out the noise. This also allows the app to make accurate translations.
Wrap Up
We can’t deny that video calls have found a way into both our personal and professional lives, transforming the way we communicate day by day.
If there’s anything all these Skype statistics prove is that the platform isn’t ready to give up yet.
Who knows?
We might witness a Skype era once again.
Sources
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