Skype Going Back on the Market?

By Greg McNevin

January 29, 2009: When eBay forked out US$2.6B for Skype in 2005, the industry consensus was that while it may have overpaid, it had indeed bought itself a gem of a business. The only curiosity, was how exactly Skype fitted with eBay’s core business.

This question is still yet to be answered, as to this day Skype remains a standalone business for the auction giant, as noted by eBay CEO, John Donahoe in The Times of London recently. "synergies between Skype and the other parts of our portfolio are minimal," Donahoe told the paper, adding that Skype is "a great standalone business."

This failure to integrate its businesses coupled with the news that eBay profits are falling while Skype’s are skyrocketing is fuelling speculation that a sale of the VoIP service is on the cards, and Google is the name dominating the rumour mill.

In 2007 rumours swirled that Google was interested in Skype, and while it missed out then it may have another chance if the price is right. While the service is hardly complimentary to eBay’s auction or PayPal businesses, the fact that it is doing so well on its own certainly leaves the company with no real need to rush into a sale.

If it does, and Google beats out other competitors such as Microsoft and Verizon, then Skype would most definitely find a more appropriate home via integration with Google’s Gmail, Google Talk and web application services.

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