Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
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Fig. 4.2
Growth in Skype users worldwide. Source Schonfeld 2009
Table 4.1 Distribution of Skype users in 20 largest countries of usage, 2004
Country % Global Skype users No. of users (millions)
United States 9.13 6.8
Poland 7.87 5.9
Taiwan 7.80 5.8
China 6.75 5.0
Germany 6.06 4.5
Brazil 5.85 4.4
France 5.62 4.2
United Kingdom 3.50 2.6
Netherlands 3.47 2.6
Japan 3.17 2.4
Spain 2.64 2.0
Israel 2.36 1.8
Canada 2.22 1.7
Belgium 1.95 1.5
Italy 1.91 1.4
Denmark 1.73 1.3
Sweden 1.62 1.2
Turkey 1.59 1.2
Switzerland 1.42 1.1
Australia 1.41 1.0
(Malik
2010
), or half the global total of VOIP call minutes, overshadowing its
roughly 2,000 competitors worldwide (half of which are in the U.S.). Skype is
particularly important in international telephony: half of Skype calls are between
countries, and account for one-fourth of all calls that cross national borders. Skype
usage varies markedly among the world's countries (Table
4.1
). Video calls have
also surged in popularity among Skype users and now comprise 40 % of its call
volume. More recent additions include file transfers and answering services.
