Skype Unloved

Forbes ^ | 04.15.09 | Vidya Ram

[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.

[diefree]

I think texting is okay on the Iphone 3G if I read skype’s page correctly.

[papasmurf]

OK, I misunderstood. :(

FYI, My German BIL is a master hacker, cracker, and code packer. He has an iPhone, runs it on T-Mo, and he uses SkyPe and whatever else wants. He has the magic sauce. I hate him. LOL

[DYngbld]

While on deployment I could do video chat with my kids from various ports again for free.
It is the phone I use in my HamShack. I love it. I think I have paid $10 in the last two years for the service.

[lormand]

Deployment? Thank you for serving our country sir.

HamShack LOL

I'm guessing that is the mess hall?

[expat_panama]

"I purchase Skype..."

For most of my calls it's free like when I talk to my kids or pass notes to them.  To talk to the states it's just a couple cents/minute and locally it's cheaper than regular phone.

Check out skype.com