September 14, 2005
The implications of eBay acquiring Skype
eBay's multi-billion dollar purchase of Skype has puzzled some industry watchers who are wondering aloud about the usefulness of the deal to eBay. However, according to some, it makes perfect business sense for eBay that gets a database of around 54 million subscribers of Skype and also the $60 million revenue that Skype has projected for the year 2005. eBay purchased Skype for a sum of $2.6 billion. eBay can now leverage its newly acquired VoIP capabilities to provide a whole new range of services to the consumer. By acquiring VoIP capabilities, eBay has joined the ranks of Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. |
According to Maribel Lopez, who is an analyst with Forrester Research, voice is no longer an isolated application, it figures prominently in everything that an individual does online and will play an increasingly large role in the services that online businesses will offer in future. According to some industry watchers, by acquiring Skype, eBay has given itself the option of opting for a portal-like business model ans increase the range of services, such as better e-commerce and customer service tools.
By acquiring VoIP capabilities, companies such as eBay can aspire to become the center of their customers' web browsing experience and help in online trading by providing video capabilities. According to Hani Durzy, spokesman for eBay, the company looks at voice capability as being ubiquitous in its scheme for offering better service in the areas of auctioning cars and industrial tools. Also VoIP will help to better the communication that occurs during the buying and selling of antique items and other unique pieces.
However, according to http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1858398,00.asp, What is eBay thinking?, an article by David Coursey, acquiring Skype may not be such a good purchase for eBay, especially at the price that it paid for Skype.
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