Ebay

eBay Global Strategy with Paypal and Skype

Yesterday eBay detailed what was talked about at their annual financial analyst conference in San Jose. A lot of what was detailed is stuff we already know. Skype passed 100 million users, Paypal is integrated with eBay, blah blah blah. They talk about the synergies between the three (eBay, Paypal, Skype), but to me Skype is still the odd man out right now. I still can't go to eBay, look up an auction listing and see the seller's Skype status to initiate a call to the seller.

Sure, eBay is in the early stages of this. In fact they do display SkypeMe buttons in listings on several international eBay sites, but who cares about the international market? Doesn't eBay know that the U.S. is the end-all-be-all. If it ain't happening here in the U.S. who cares? I'm kidding of course. But seriously, you don't hear too much about Skype buttons on international eBay sites. I think eBay would be smart to start offering Skype integration on the U.S. eBay site -- even if only in beta. They've owned Skype long enough to be able to do this, so why the long delay? You'd think several billion dollars in Skype's pockets would give them enough cash to hire developers to get the show on the road. C'mon already... When eBay provides this kind of integration, then I'll agree with their statement that there is "synergy between the three". Until then, this is more like Naked Gun 2 1/2 .big grin

In any event, here's the synopsis of the financial analyst conference - lots of hype you will see:

eBay Inc. Outlines Global Business Strategy at 2006 Analyst Conference

San Jose, Calif., May 4, 2006 - eBay Inc., (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.ebay.com), today held its annual financial analyst conference in San Jose, California, during which the company highlighted the fundamental strength of its three businesses: Marketplaces, Payments, and Communications. The company also described its expanded vision of the future, outlining a multi-brand strategy to...