JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan said the acquisition was "strategically positive." It makes money on roughly 2 million people who pay a few dollars a month for a service that lets them reach landline and cell phones. Using peer-to-peer architecture, Skype offers software-based PC-to-PC telephone service for free to tens of millions of people. Since Luxembourg-based Skype released its first product in August 2003, the company has become the premiere voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider with 54 million registered users after two years, according to the company. "The near-term potential for improved communications among eBay buyers and sellers.is a positive, but not one worth $2.6 billion." eBay's purchase of Skype may bring in additional revenue for the online auction giant-but some analysts say it's a risky move given questions surrounding the nascent Net calling market.ĮBay has agreed to acquire Internet phone company Skype for $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock and could pay up to $1.5 billion more if Skype meets financial targets by 2008 or 2009. "The return on investment here will be uncertain for a long time to come," he wrote in a research report.
Mark Mahaney, a Citigroup Internet analyst, said the deal was eBay's largest to date, and quite possibly its riskiest.
0 kommentar(er)
