There is chatter that eBay plans to buy Skype for several billion. I don't know the veracity of the rumor, though its been reported in the WSJ and Reuters along with a host of blogs. Arienna Foley thinks it is crazy, Dan Gillmor finds it puzzling, and Fred Wilson doesn't see the synergy. I think a lot of other people are probably scratching their heads as well.
I think they're missing the point, if true I don't think it has anything to do with eBay moving outside of its core business, I think it is eBay's way of tapping presence. With Skype, eBay buyers could see if eBay sellers were online and ask them questions right away, facilitating eBay's core model. With Skype's voice conferencing (and perhaps text conferencing too) down the road eBay could move to a more engaging style of live auction where bidding is more real-time.
What I don't get is the price...I don't presume to know what Skype is worth and a few billion may be right on the mark. But if eBay is after the presence and voice piece they could build or buy the technology themselves for a lot less...just ask Google.
I agree that eBay could build or buy a smaller name but remember the Billpoint debacle? They ended up buying PayPal anyway. Picture a "Talk Now" button next to the PayPal button.
Posted by: Josh | September 09, 2005 at 13:43