Microsoft may close its Windows Live Messenger (MSN) operation to focus fully on the development of Skype, US technology news outlet The Verge reported, a decision analysts said Tuesday will not clear the gloom from the company's instant messaging operation in China.
The company plans to consolidate MSN into Skype, its newly acquired video calling service, said The Verge's report Monday, adding that 80 percent of Skype instant messages are processed backstage by MSN, so the merge will optimize user experience.
Microsoft told the Global Times via telephone Tuesday that Skype will issue a formal response to this report today, but refused to comment by press time. Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011.
Microsoft has already connected MSN accounts with login names on Skype, allowing MSN users to continue using the instant messaging service through Skype after a consolidation, a move intended to increase the number of Skype users around the world, according to the report.
According to US-based market research center OPSWAT, MSN headed the global instant messaging market up to the first half of 2011, with a 40.67 percent market share worldwide, while Skype had 27.30 percent. However, neither holds such a big share in China, where Microsoft's desire to increase Skype's numbers may fizzle.
Some domestic MSN users may balk at Microsoft's new messenger and turn to Chinese rivals like Tencent's QQ, which has seized the substantial majority of China's instant messaging market, You Tianyu, an Internet analyst with consultancy iResearch, told the Global Times Tuesday.
When entering the Chinese market in 2005, MSN had a 13 percent share, ranking second, which has dropped sharply to fourth since 2009 according to iResearch.
This drop resulted from Microsoft's indifference to the Chinese social network market and slow reactions to changes in that sector, as well as poor communication between MSN China and headquarters, Yan Xiaoqiang, an industry analyst with consultancy Analysys International, told the Global Times Tuesday.
"MSN shouldn't last. It is junk. I frequently can't log in, and I have spotted various kinds of security defects in it," said a technology engineer surnamed Liu.
"Microsoft built up its fortune by selling software to computer producers, and has always been lazy about innovating in its instant messaging business, which is just an accessory," Yan said.
Although the unconfirmed consolidation might help Microsoft allocate its resources more efficiently, the future of its instant messaging operation in China will remain unclear until the company starts to value this sector, You from iResearch said.
And Skype, whose advantage over other instant messengers (IMs) has been its ability to make international voice calls, must compete with domestic messengers that also have voice capabilities, Yan noted, adding, "Tencent's Wechat is widely used among Chinese people abroad."
Yan also said that consumers who use the MSN-integrated Windows phone system do not need to worry about the phones' function, as the company's IM service will still work even if its name changes.
The company plans to consolidate MSN into Skype, its newly acquired video calling service, said The Verge's report Monday, adding that 80 percent of Skype instant messages are processed backstage by MSN, so the merge will optimize user experience.
Microsoft told the Global Times via telephone Tuesday that Skype will issue a formal response to this report today, but refused to comment by press time. Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011.
Microsoft has already connected MSN accounts with login names on Skype, allowing MSN users to continue using the instant messaging service through Skype after a consolidation, a move intended to increase the number of Skype users around the world, according to the report.
According to US-based market research center OPSWAT, MSN headed the global instant messaging market up to the first half of 2011, with a 40.67 percent market share worldwide, while Skype had 27.30 percent. However, neither holds such a big share in China, where Microsoft's desire to increase Skype's numbers may fizzle.
Some domestic MSN users may balk at Microsoft's new messenger and turn to Chinese rivals like Tencent's QQ, which has seized the substantial majority of China's instant messaging market, You Tianyu, an Internet analyst with consultancy iResearch, told the Global Times Tuesday.
When entering the Chinese market in 2005, MSN had a 13 percent share, ranking second, which has dropped sharply to fourth since 2009 according to iResearch.
This drop resulted from Microsoft's indifference to the Chinese social network market and slow reactions to changes in that sector, as well as poor communication between MSN China and headquarters, Yan Xiaoqiang, an industry analyst with consultancy Analysys International, told the Global Times Tuesday.
"MSN shouldn't last. It is junk. I frequently can't log in, and I have spotted various kinds of security defects in it," said a technology engineer surnamed Liu.
"Microsoft built up its fortune by selling software to computer producers, and has always been lazy about innovating in its instant messaging business, which is just an accessory," Yan said.
Although the unconfirmed consolidation might help Microsoft allocate its resources more efficiently, the future of its instant messaging operation in China will remain unclear until the company starts to value this sector, You from iResearch said.
And Skype, whose advantage over other instant messengers (IMs) has been its ability to make international voice calls, must compete with domestic messengers that also have voice capabilities, Yan noted, adding, "Tencent's Wechat is widely used among Chinese people abroad."
Yan also said that consumers who use the MSN-integrated Windows phone system do not need to worry about the phones' function, as the company's IM service will still work even if its name changes.
Microsoft may kill Messenger - Globaltimes.cn
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