14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will end its collaboration with TOM in China, but the company won’t take full ownership of the Skype service, Redmond recently said in a statement.
A recent announcement posted online by TOM revealed that Microsoft would take over Skype in China, while also adding that the VoIP platform passed the 100 million users threshold in the country.
Redmond, on the other hand, said in a statement for The Register that Skype would continue to be offered to Chinese users via a joint venture in order to comply with local legislation.
“Skype is committed to providing users with the best experience possible and confirm that the cooperation with TOM Online will end. We would like to thank them for their partnership and support over the years,” Microsoft explained.
At the same time, Microsoft also denied TOM’s statement that it has 100 million users in China, explaining that the company doesn’t disclose country-specific figures.
“TOM erroneously overstated the number of connected users we have in China. We have more than 300 million connected users around the world and do not disclose country-specific figures. In China, Skype software is made available through a joint venture to comply with established procedures to meet obligations under local laws. We look forward to sharing news of the new joint venture soon,” it said.
Microsoft hasn’t provided any details on the company it would join forces with to continue offering Skype in China, but it’s pretty clear that Redmond would still have to deal with accusations regarding censorship and wiretapping.
TOM-Skype has often been criticized for the lack of transparency, with many users blasting Microsoft for taking part in a nationwide campaign used to track conversations, store data on their local servers and share them with the local government whenever they are asked to.