Study: Skype Used For Business, Not Home

Contrary to what you may believe, Skype is primarily used for business, not home use. So concludes a Cornell University study of Skype use. The study found that Skype use peaks during working hours, and tails off during the evening.

It found that usage during the night dropped by 40% to 50% compared to use during the day. And weekends see 20% less use than weekdays.

It also tracked geographical use of Skype, and not surprisingly, Europe leads the way, with 45% to 60% of Skype supernodes. North America has from 15% to 25% of supernodes, while Asia has from 20% to 25%.

In all areas of the world, usage peaks sometime between late morning and afternoon.

This makes eBay's acquisition of Skype even more puzzling. Why buy a business P2P VoIP network -- and then treat it as if it's mainly for consumers?Beats me, and I'd bet that eBay didn't realize Skype was mainly used for business when it overpaid for the company. Whether this study will change how eBay treats Skype, though, remains to be seen.