Yeah we all saw it coming two years ago when eBay bought Skype.? We didn?t see the strategy behind it.? I know that I was scratching my head at the corporate fit.? Sure a good tale was told about buyers and sellers being able to communicate more easily, but that didn?t happen.? So, eBay got the picture, has shaken things up, and is moving on, for a price.? I don?t, however, agree with Henry Blodget on this point in his article:
Skype is rapidly surrendering its early dominance of soft-phone VOIP to other more focused competitors, and if it stays within the eBay fold, we think further write-downs will be in the offing.? Skype was a $2-$4 billion eBay hail-Mary pass, and it just officially fell incomplete.? eBay should just acknowledge that and move on. Source: Silicon Alley Insider: It?s Finally Official: eBay?s Skype Has Bombed
Really?? Gee I haven?t seen it.? Sure MSN, YIM, AIM, and Gtalk have come on the scene, but Skype still seems to be the leader of the tech set.? Skype has also continued to improve both the client and the audio-video performance.? So, Skype wasn?t the investment eBay thought it would be, pity.? But what I?m now concerned about is if Skype is now going to be ignored by eBay to wither on the vine or just sold off and die that way.? I think we need a solid VoIP client like Skype that is also secure and expandable.? I would hate to see it absorbed into MSN or YIM.? Now?having it replace Gtalk?that might not be so bad.
See also: Mathew Ingram, Paul Kedrosky, Ash Karbasfrooshan
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