Skype Pro finally launched in Europe. For this product, I have posted a post in last month entitled, “Skype Pro To Be Launched.” In that post, I did talked about how I feel about the product to be launched, and whether it will eventually success in the market or not. In less than a month, it has launched in its first target market, i.e. the selected countries in Europe. It is currently only available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

I maintained my perspective on the launched of this Skype Pro, why Skype charge for as minimum as €2 per month is for the purpose of market penetration. As the VP & GM of Telecoms at Skype, Stefan Oberg said, “With Skype Pro, we’re making it easier for our 171m registered users to buy our paid for communications products. Skype Pro lets you call landlines and mobiles all over the world for exceptional value. The combination of Skype’s free features with Skype Pro is very compelling. Along with zero per minute calling, Skype Pro includes free voicemail, a generous discount on SkypeIn numbers, attractively priced Skype devices plus five euros of SkypeOut(TM) credit when you sign up for five months. Skype Pro is a simple and cost-effective way for people to keep in touch with one another the world over” According to this press release.

An apparent benefit for Skype Pro launched in the market is about the monopoly power that Skype might achieved with this €2 per month, their pricing model. Another benefit of implementing this pricing model is the knowledge that eBay could gained from launching a paid-service to the users, once a user starting to accept that paying to get a premium service is worthy, eBay will gain their confidence in rolling out a ton of products that label with a price. Some argued that right timing is a decisive factor for a product to be success or fail in the market, but regardless what will be the outcome of this product launched, I think eBay must learn how to use the Skype Pro’s market reports in order to better modify the behavior of their customers.