eBay: Take My Skype…Please
"Skype is a great standalone business."
That’s how eBay CEO John Donahoe described the company’s anomalous Internet telephony unit during the company’s recent earnings call, and that remark is being interpreted by some as a signal that the online auctioneer is looking to unload it.
And, frankly, that wouldn’t be a bad idea, considering that eBay (EBAY) hasn’t yet really managed much integration between its auction Web site and the Skype voice service-certainly not enough to justify its hefty $2.6 billion investment and the write-downs that followed it. Even eBay has admitted as much: "I think we are now confident that the synergies between Skype and the other parts of our portfolio are minimal," said Donahoe, generously adding that the division is "not a distraction currently."
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