Microsoft managed to increase Skype usage by 50 percent

According to Microsoft's recent quarterly earnings report, Skype's global usage jumped by 50% in the last quarter. That translates to 115 billion minutes worth of calls on the service. This growth in Skype usage is perhaps responsible for a large part of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division's 20% increase in revenue over the last quarter. It seems Microsoft's purchase of Skype last year was the right move after all. The Entertainment and Devices Division's revenue grew by $292 million in the last quarter.

Microsoft is integrating some Skype features into its next Office 2013 version. For example the 'presense' feature in Outlook, allows the user to start a call with either one or many co-workers simultaneously.

Some critics have been unsure of Microsoft's acquisition of the VOIP service and which direction the company would take it, but Skype's growth and integration into other Microsoft products has certainly proved the company right.