Posted on 04/15/2009 9:53:29 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Having failed in its attempt to sell Skype, eBay is now poised to carve off the business via an initial public offering. That could be a gamble.
Market conditions allowing, the online-auction titan will float Skype next year, eBay chief executive John Donohoe said late on Tuesday. This suggests that eBay's apparent sale talks with Skype's Scandinavian founders, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, and three private equity groups, have broken down. The bidders had reportedly been offering eBay around $2.0 billion for the business, $600.0 million less than what the founders had sold it to eBay for in 2005. (See "Hype Over Skype.")
Donohoe's announcement could be a veiled attempt to find another bidder for the Skype; eBay has, of course, denied this. Trouble is the Internet telephony service is a tough sale. Skype might be a a popular communication tool, accounting for around 8.0% of the world's international calling according to Telegeography, but translating "eyeballs" into "revenue" has proved challenging.
Skype's customers only spend an average 11.3 cents a month on its service, compared with the typical spend of around $50 a month for a cellphone. Analysts have also doubted eBay's goal to double Skype's $551.0 million in revenue last year, to $1.0 billion. Taking Skype to the next level would require considerable capital investment, says Atlantic Equities analyst James Caldwell, and that could deter a buyer.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
It’s a wonderful service - and our only phone. (Well, we keep a pre-paid cellphone around for 911 calls and the rare vacation, but that’s about it.) If you have both a traditional landline and (reliable) high-speed internet service, ask yourself why.
We use the video on Skype to talk to relatives face to face. It’s free.
You can use it phone to phone, not just on the computer, and you can get a phone number from them and have calls forwarded to you all over the world. I don’t use it much but it comes in handy.
Now they have an application for the I-phone. I haven’t looked into it yet so don’t know what it entails.
I have a traditional land line telephone. My internet service also is provided by the Telco. If I purchase Skype, I presume Skype assigns me a telephone number. If so, then do I lose the telephone number I already have from the Telco? Thanks.
Yeah, but it's eBay. You've GOTTA figure there will be a couple of snipe bidders in the closing seconds...
Ping
Skype security and privacy concerns
Did the EU just admit Skype calls can be intercepted?
My work group is spread around the world and we use Skype for one-to-one or conference calls. Works wonderfully.
You will. Skype will have a range of numbers available to pick from, (in just about any area code you would like, actually), but your current number won’t be one of them.
Given that the government is spending $1 billion dollars to figure out how to tap skype calls, I wonder if they shouldn’t just spend $2 billion to buy it.
Except ATT won’t allow it’s use on 3G.
Except ATT won’t allow it’s use on 3G.
But then, AT&T's US monopoly on iPhone service runs out next year, unless Apple renews it . . . which AT&T is trying to get Apple to agree to.
T-Mobile isn’t allowing it where they are the iPhone provider either.
We use the video on Skype to talk to relatives face to face. It’s free.
We use it too; it's wonderful. It does seem that there should be some charge for it. I feel like a freeloader. Even tho I and the daughter I talk to are paying for the internet bandwidth at both ends.
First of all, T-Mobile does serive any US iPhone customers.
T-Mobile has no issues with SkyPe. ALL German Telecoms’ contracts prohibit the use of SkyPe and all other VoiP applications.
It’s not consistently enforced, but the ban on 3G usage it.
http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2009/04/is_deutsche_telekom_playing_an.html
Oops...
“First of all, T-Mobile does serive any US iPhone customers.”
Should read: First of all, T-Mobile does not service any US iPhone customers.
Sorry
It’s computer to computer which is free. Or computer to phone, low rates. Or phone to computer. Or phone to phone.
I haven’t looked at it in awhile but there are different scenarios. You only get a phone number if you want one and you pay for it.
It’s a little complicated.
I’m fully aware that T-Mobile isn’t the US provider of iPhones although presumably they would be next on the list to add it in the US when the exclusivity contract ends. I said where they are the provider.
Thanks for the article though. I hadn’t looked too deeply into the blocking of Skype on the phone.
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