g software. Skype: 2011 Skype is the most widely used service worldwide for making international voice calls and audio and video conferences. In addition, Microsoft stated that it plans to blend the Skype service into its mobile operating system software. This will add functionality such as video conferencing and low-cost VoIP calling to its mobile operating system. These are competitive advantages for Microsoft's mobile operating system which is used on fewer handsets than those from Apple and Google. Microsoft has also stated plans to blend Skype service into its video game systems. One challenge is integrating Skype's staff into Microsoft's. The cultures of these two organizations are markedly different. Microsoft is a large established conglomer- ate with many layers of management. Skype is a smaller, less-structured organization. Netflix Reed Hastings founded Netflix in 1998. His vision at that time was to eliminate late fees on rented DVDs. This grew out of his own dismay at owing a $40 late fee on film rental. Other features of the original service were the convenience afforded by the red envelopes with prepaid postage that subscribers used to mail back DVDs to Netflix. Like Amazon, Netflix developed a recommendation system. Netflix's system is based on a user's past DVD ratings and rentals, presented on an easy-to-navigate web inter- face for ordering DVDs. Competition, Industry Structures, and Regulations By 2004, the company stated its long-term vision of streaming TV and movies directly to users. During Netflix's third quarter 2004 Earnings Conference Call, CFO Barry McCarthy laid out his vision for the future of the service: believe that the downloading market will evolve with slow but steady progress enabled by the availability of low-cost devices, which are going to move that content from the Internet to the TV set. We need to be on as many of those devices as we can be, so that will be a core strategy for us. Netflix has the largest number of subscribers of any provider in the United States. Its mo