Skype Acquires leading Mobile Group Video provider on Android- Qik

(Las Vegas)  Introduced today by the New CEO, Tony Baits, Skype’s strategy of ubiquitous communications with strong focus in Group video and mobile was outlined today at the CES conference.

25% of all calling minutes in 2010 were via Skype that was a big jump from the 12% in 2009.  Of that figure they have achieved 190 Billion min a year with 40% being video calls.  As a strategy they are pushing to grow their video capabilities as a core strategy and with the addition of the Qik them they can pursue cross-platform and cross-carrier in the mobile space more effectively.

Although they have not yet to disclosed a video chat feature for the Android Skype clients, during NYE they  had 4 million D/L with over 1M users taking advantage of the video calling feature on their iPhones.

Today  in North America, Skype has partnerships mobile operators such as Verizon and Qik with Sprint and T-Mobile as a pre-load.  This acquisition was intended to give further footing to mobile video calling and group calling.  They will be continuing with the $8.99/month pricing.

The Qik client is pervasive across all of the Android products and has been one of the top Applications in the Android marketplace.   Their products cover the spectrum with ntegration up to Android 2.2 Froyo.

Rick Osterloh, VP Product Management Skype, mentioned that Skype has always been strong with the interaction of the contact book in Android Products. One of the key aspects of Qik was their strong technology at an integration level with the contact book and with cloud contact management.

Further advances to their developer API around SkypeKit will be a key launching pad for Skype to bring new opportunities for its partnership strategy.

Even though Nokia is shipping 1M units a day, there is no comparison when it comes to scale, but the US Market still seems a quite bit distance for the marketing prowess of Nokia….. I am sitting and waiting for that Nokia Beauty to emerge…