As Microsoft retires Skype in favor of Teams, it might be useful to recall just how impactful “voice over IP” services such as Skype were in dismantling the telco profit engine.
For example, looking only at revenue, in 2000 global international call revenues were in the range of $80 billion to $100 billion, with very-high profit margins. By 2020, international calling revenues had dropped to about $15 billion to $20 billion, with profit margins compressed.
Profit margins were an important part of the early, pre-VoIP story. Net profit margins on international voice were as high as 25 percent back in 2000. Current net margins are in the range of three percent to possibly five percent.
In a real sense, VoIP services including Skype disrupted the telecom industry profit driver.
Also, VoIP was not the only huge driver of a shift in consumer behavior. “Calling” became something most people did on their mobile phones.
Fixed-network revenue dropped from $200 billion globally in 2000 to under $50 billion by 2020, while mobile revenue grew from $500 billion to $1.6 trillion, for example. U.S. telco revenues likewise shifted from fixed to mobile; legacy voice to VoIP.