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EBay Mulling Skype Sale

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the do-you-hear-that-flushing-sound dept.

MaineCoasts writes "The Financial Times reports that eBay's new CEO is evaluating a sale of Skype if new ways cannot be found for the fast-growing service to support its core e-commerce business. EBay reported earlier this week that Skype had a 61 percent increase in first-quarter revenue over the same quarter last year and now has 309 million users worldwide."

7 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. No way ... by Luscious868 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is anybody surprised? Why Ebay bought them in the first place is beyond me. It made no sense.

  2. Live voice auctions? by WolF-g · · Score: 4, Insightful

    eBay's interest in Skype never made much sense to me. Live voice auctions might have fit in, but seem rather impractical. It will be nice to have Skype ownership that has a vested interest in Skype's core business.

  3. You don't need Skype for voice communications by Starturtle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ebay originally believed that Skype would oil the wheels of its online markets by making communications easier between buyers and sellers If there was a viable business model here, I would imagine that phone numbers, along with the shipping name and address, would have already been part of the personal information that would have been available after an auction was won. Skype would have only added some mild anonymity. Honestly, I think that most people prefer the impersonal interaction of e-Bay.
  4. Re:So if I understand this correctly... by Killshot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is not making too much money, it is making more money, it is growing, and it is better to sell something when it will look attractive to buyers. They over paid for skype, it takes a lot of resources to run, and has nothing to do with their core business. Getting rid of it now makes perfect sense.

  5. Re:Retarded CEOs by jchawk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Okay I'll bite.

    Ebay moved away from it's core business by acquiring Skype in the first place. It's not supporting their core business so it only makes sense to spin the business unit out into it's own business probably via public stock offering, thus infusing ebay with a bushel of cash. This allows them to get back to the core business and focus on expanding ebay not figuring out how to integrate a business that just doesn't fit.

  6. Re:No Bid by Al_Lapalme · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I used to read PayPalSucks.com alot until I came to realize that a large number of complaints are from people who try to screw the system anyway (ie; people signing up with fake info complaining that their funds are frozen and they can't prove who they are, or opening multiple accounts, or closing an account after receiving a dispute (leaving a negative balance) - and opening a new account, then complaining that they got linked (DUMBASS)). there are probably legitimate complaints on the site and there are many things that Ebay and PayPal do that I don't agree with- but I wouldn't rely on the feedback on that site. I've been using paypal for 5 years and never had a problem.

    --
    Al
  7. Re:Retarded CEOs by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you'll notice, they said that revenue and user base increased. They didn't say that it was profitable. That's a very important distinction, because real businesses are concerned with actual profit, whereas businesses that harken to the dot-bomb try to ignore profitability and wave flags of distraction about revenue and traffic, hoping people ignore the fact that it's unprofitable and there's little hope of becoming profitable.

    If the value of Skype is worth more in terms of selling off to some other sucker investors than it is keeping it in the hopes that it might be worth something some day, then it's better to sell it off.