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Like Gary mentioned over a month ago, eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is probably having quite a few meetings trying to decide what to do with Skype. The internet telephony company was apparently worth over $3 billion many years ago when eBay bought it, but with the recent billion-dollar write-off, the investment did not come close to the payoff eBay execs (like CEO Meg Whitman) expected. Was buying Skype a bad decision? In a word, yes.

Will eBay finally bow to critics and unload Skype? If so, longtime eBay investors will probably get their panties in a twist initially, but realize it is a good move. It's quite unsettling to think of how long it will take eBay to make its investment back from the Skype purchase, but it's not going to be any time soon based on the division's current financial performance levels. The funny thing is that Skype (to me) is a great product. I use it daily, while traveling and from other areas with hardly a problem. The rates are so cheap you'd think it was a free service. If that is so, why aren't more people using it and buying it's services? Beats me.

If customer minutes come in at lower levels than in 2006, then Skype will begin losing financial credibility fast. Sure, there are customer service issues that have been talked about loudly in the last few months, but all in all, Skype is more than adequate for the price it commands. It isn't a landline replacement (it's darn close, though), and reliability shouldn't be thought of as such.

A global VoIP company would be a great asset to many other global internet companies, and don't think for a second eBay has not shopped Skype around for that very purpose. The question remains, though: why didn't Skype turn out a success for eBay? Was it a mismatch from the start? Most likely, yes. An auction service buying a voice service sounds like a natural match, but it wasn't. But, if eBay sells it, some other suitor could probably land a great bargain on the back of eBay's misstep.

eBay's Skype has last attempt at success originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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