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eBay: Take My Skype…Please

by John Paczkowski
Posted on January 26, 2009 at 9:46 AM PT

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“Skype is a great standalone business.”

That’s how CEO John Donahoe described eBay’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.”

So, while eBay’s leadership isn’t saying anything about a Skype divestiture, it has clearly opened the door to one. Said Morningstar analyst Larry Witt, “If someone’s willing to pay the right price, I don’t think [eBay] would have a problem selling it.”

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  • Rolin Bach
    One of Megs/eBay's biggest blunders. Seems she got out just in time.

    I do hope the citizens of California can see through her incompetence before she gets her foot in the door.
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About John

John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »

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Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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