Microsoft just snatched up Skype for $8.5 bajillion billion dollars and boy is everyone going crazy about it! Many are saying that Microsoft overpaid for this acquisition but you have to keep in mind that Skype was pretty much guaranteed to file for an IPO this year. Microsoft had to pony up the cash to not only convince Skype to join its camp, but to offset the profits cash that would be lost if Skype had gone forward with its IPO filing. Personally I’m wary of this deal because Microsoft has a terrible acquisition track record. The majority of the biggest acquisitions it has made have ended up going nowhere or ditched in favor of an internal Microsoft product (Danger, aQuantive, Great Plains, WebTV, and Hotmail easily come to mind).

However we’ve recently seen a change in direction for Microsoft. It’s coming out hard and coming out swinging by spending cash on everything it can. From search to Windows Phone and ARM optimization to the cloud. It’s finally hit home at Redmond that the post-PC world is on its way. Granted the PC won’t ever die, but Microsoft realizes that it can no longer depend solely on Windows as its primary revenue source. The Skype acquisition may be Microsoft’s shrewdest move yet, taking a page straight out of the Book of Apple. Continue reading “Microsoft just pulled an Apple”