eBay + Paypal + Skype … it’s true! |
Loading ...As rumored last week, eBay is in fact paying $2.6 billion (1.3 billion in stock, 1.3 in cash) for Skype. A heck of a deal for Skype but I’m still cynical about its worth for eBay. I’m not the only one, via CNET:
“I think there were much closer synergies between eBay and PayPal than Skype and eBay,” said Edwards of American Technology Research. “This is definitely a significant risk and a longer-term play.”
Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay is more optimistic, naturally. Business Week:
The online marketplace, dogged by concerns about slowing growth in its core U.S. market, said Skype will help it not only recharge existing and new businesses within eBay, but help it ride an entirely new online communications business. “Together, we can pursue some very significant growth opportunities,” eBay Chief Executive Margaret C. Whitman said in an early-morning conference call. “We can create an unparalleled e-commerce engine.”
This could expose the online auction giant to further problems or be a huge boost. I’m reminded of the ruckus and fallout caused by eBay raising their seller fees by 60 percent back in February of this year. And then Yahoo vollying by not charging any listing fees.
It’s clearly one of the biggest business gambles of 2005. I wonder if the Skype folks will soon leave and start something else. They have a bonus deal with eBay that goes to 2008 or 2009, so probably won’t be soon. Lest we remember that these are the same folks who built up Kazaa and then left to do Skype (and look what’s happened to Kazaa). Is it way too early to wonder what they will do next?
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- Yay or nay: Skype now being downloaded in Kazaa
- Wordpress Matt looking to dump Yahoo search because of “shaky foundation”
- Paypal integration in Skype to finally be reality as GBuy lurks
The thing that makes me go hmm is that even if we assume that Skype is the greatest company ever started, why would eBay want to buy them. If they loved the technology so much couldn’t they have just signed up as a customer? They didn’t buy their phone company or email provider…you get the point.
Comment by skumora — September 13, 2005 @ 8:59 pm PST
skumora - that’s a good question. They could have worked on APIs and entered into a customer agreement indeed, but perhaps they are more interested in the customer base (50+ million) users so they can marke to them. I don’t think 50 million customers is worth 2.6 billion in light of Google Talk being in the same space, but that’s just my opinion. Will be interesting to see where we are at a year from now.
Comment by TDavid — September 13, 2005 @ 9:27 pm PST
[…] I remain a bit puzzled why this wasn’t a right away feature after the billion dollar deal closed? Lest we forget it’s been some nine months since the deal closed. […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Paypal integration in Skype to finally be reality as Gbuy lurks — June 13, 2006 @ 3:21 pm PST
[…] If eBay AdContext is going to use CJ then that’s pretty much a dealbreaker for our company. eBay is big enough to do their own affiliate program, why would they be farming this out to CJ? I don’t get it. eBay will (over)pay billions for Skype and yet won’t design, build and implement their own affiliate program? […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Why would eBay AdContext use Commission Junction? — June 17, 2006 @ 9:19 am PST