eBay will consider selling Skype

Has eBay about had it with Skype?

New eBay CEO John Donahoe told the Financial Times the online auctioneer will consider selling Skype if it can't find a way to make the service better help eBay's e-commerce business.

"What we're testing this year are the synergies," Donahoe told the Financial Times. "If the synergies are strong, we'll keep it in our portfolio. If not, we'll reassess it."

Donahoe did say Skype is doing well. It generated $126 million in the first quarter, up 61 percent from a year ago. This year, it's expected to generate $500 million in revenue and be profitable. Overall, first-quarter eBay revenues reported Wednesday were up 24 percent from a year ago to $2.19 billion. Profit was $460 million, up 22 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

But the question about Skype, which eBay acquired for $2.5 billion in 2005, has never been whether it's a decent business, it's whether it's a good fit for eBay. By the end of the year, the company will finally be closer to that answer.

[kieranmullen]

Great Profits From No Support

It's easy to make profits when you don't hire customer service, accept money without providing service and make clients disappear (or expire)

KieranMullen
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://360Oregon.com" target="_newWindow">http://360Oregon.com</a>

[Dead Soulman]

Not the same after Ebay bought them

I used to love using Skype to make calls. Sure it had its latency issues. But, that might've had something to do with the lower number of broadband connections available. I even had a local phone number for about $38/year. Then, after Ebay bought them, prices went up and customer service went down. I guess that's the Ebay plan of operations. No thank you. I only use Skype to make calls to toll-free numbers so I don't tie up my cell. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd try to charge you for that too. When they do, I'd unplug my phone off the router, and see how quickly Skype will fall to its knees when more people get fed up with the high prices and non-existent customer service.

I don't use Ebay, try to avoid using PayPal as much as possible (they screwed me twice), reduced my Skype usage to toll free calls.

[TxemiC]

Why Google should buy Skype

No question, eBay over-paid for Skype:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://tech-talk.biz/2008/04/17/how-much-is-skype-worth/" target="_newWindow">http://tech-talk.biz/2008/04/17/how-much-is-skype-worth/</a>

Still, Skype can be a good fit for Google Apps proposition to
enterprises:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://tech-talk.biz/2008/04/19/why-google-should-buy-" target="_newWindow">http://tech-talk.biz/2008/04/19/why-google-should-buy-</a>
skype/

[rezzin1]

skype is great

i love my skype . i have a mobile phone with skype on it and a bluetooth headpiece and i bought the bluemusic soft to make it work with the headset . it works fantastic . i have a number , voicemail . after u get a number and it all set up with the initial fees. its only 3 dollars a month with the plan they have . all u need is the wireless internet after that . please give ebay some credit for keeping sype alive . i find it works best with the verizon smartphone xv6700 . i could not be more happy . all it needs now is more freqent updates to fix some bugs and flaws like voicemail ( voicemail does not always work correctly but most of the time it does

[Stating]

Product Needs To Evolve

Skype needs to evolve to stay viable. Since eBay bought them they have mostly issued bug fixes to the code. They should have rolled out new features like multi-party video conference, distinctive ring, call recording, etc. There's also no reason they couldn't compete in the conference call business. It's ridiculous that these services charge $0.10 a minute per participant for an 800#.

[JCPayne]

I hope they don't mess it up....

You know these companies..

"Well maybe if we change the design and the layout and the price structure, and merge it with this other venture of our we can make it a bigger success...."

That has hardly ever worked so why would it work right now????

Here's a photo of what a combined Yahoo-Skype would look like....
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/yahoo-skype.jpg" target="_newWindow">http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/yahoo-skype.jpg</a>
(The main article is here -- <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/speculation_yahoo-ebay_merger.php" target="_newWindow">http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/speculation_yahoo-ebay_merger.php</a> )

[Stating]

Doesn't Really Make Sense

You seem to know nothing about the SOHO market. These companies can't dick around with Linux. Christ, I am an IT pro and I wasted a huge amount of time trying to use Ubuntu. The SOHO markets needs stuff that is simple and reliable, cost is secondary.