Skype: eBay's never-ending $2.6 billion blunder
- IT TOPICS:Internet, Networking
More evidence that eBay got taken to the cleaners when it forked over $2.6 billion to buy Skype: eBay has asked Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom and President Henry Gomez to step down. And eBay is also taking a $1.43 billion charge related to the Skype buyout.
That's not what the auction giant signed up for when it laid out so much cash for the PC-based VoIP company. It's just more evidence that the Skype buyout was one of the biggest financial blunders since the dotcom crash.
It's hard to know what eBay was thinking when it paid so much for so little. Skype may have nice technology and a loyal user base, but face it, all the company does is provide free or cheap phone calls, and only when you make them from your PC.
Computerworld reports that eBay "will try to boost (Skype's) money-making capabilities by exploring broader e-commerce options, possibly within services like SkypeFind, a directory in which businesses are listed and recommended, and SkypePrime, a service for selling advice and expertise."
That's a reasonable move, and may be a nice little niche. But it's certainly not worth billions.
Not that long ago, VoIP companies like Skype were the darlings of the dotcom world. Increasingly, they're turning into roadkill. My guess is that it'll be a long time before eBay makes another acquisition even close to the size of Skype.
Free Insider Guide