i used to be involved in a case competition team analysing eBay’s then potential acquisition target – Paypal. with Paypal, it made a lot of sense as there were lots of synergies created through the vertical integration of both service offerings. but, i was skeptical when a rumour started about potential eBay’s intention to acquire Skype. i thought that it was outside eBay’s core competency. but hey, when you are a fast growing company with $2.6b in cash waiting to be spent, you have to invest and invest and invest.
now the rumour is news because eBay has officially acquired Skype for $2.6b (cash and stock). it could be a very pricey acquisition, but the potential synergies are too great to ignore. you wont be surprised if part of a bidding proces in eBay, you could be conducting a teleconference all over the world, with new integrated eBay features in the Skype’s platform. it will truly change the face of online auction forever. i guess at that time, it would makes more sense for Google to acquire Skype until it released its own GoogleTalk (it could be that Google was losing the bidding battle).
eBay + Skype like the title suggests is indeed a lethal combination. Skype has defined the future of telecommunication industries. and those who have read Yergin’s Commanding Heights know that the nature of the industry in commanding great influence and power over daily lives. perhaps, the convenience of picking up a handset is still a barrier for the Skype’s uptake but the standardisation of protocols and the realisation by developers on the need of open source platform can only improve the integration and interoperability of this great technology. afterall, more and more people have computers esp laptop with ADSL connections as constant fixtures in their daily lives.
this is really exciting!!