[TETENAL]

Apple purchased NeXT for $400 million and gets a whole operating system.

Ebay purchases Skype for $3.1 billions and gets a chat program?!

Now I don't have any business degree, but isn't that a little bit out of proportion? I would have thought they could have developed one themselves for much less than that. I doubt Google spent that much for their in-house developed chat client (or Apple for iChat).

[Troll]

Skype has good lawyers.

[Goldfinger]

NeXT wasn't worth more than 400mil. Skype is. What they do is buying Skype's clients not the chat program. 2.6+ that 1.5 billion is a bit excessive though.

[rickey939]

If eBay were to cough, they would find 3.1 billion on the floor.

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

NeXT wasn't worth more than 400mil. Skype is. What they do is buying Skype's clients not the chat program.

I still don't get how that makes sense from a business point of view.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

What they do is buying Skype's clients not the chat program.

Exactly. Skype has over 50 million registered users. Telecoms operators spend about $150 per customer to snag them. That would mean that Skype's customer base alone is worth about $7.5Bn.

[TETENAL]

Skype has 50 million registered accounts. That doesn't make 50 million users. I have multiple AIM accounts (one AIM and one .Mac). Many accounts are vacant.

And telecoms might pay $150 per new customer, but that's paying customers ($20 a month base fee makes $240 a year). Skype users are using the service for free. Turn it into a service subject to charge and you can kiss goodbye the customer base.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

Skype has 50 million registered accounts. That doesn't make 50 million users.

Not according to Skype.

Originally Posted by TETENAL

And telecoms might pay $150 per new customer, but that's paying customers ($20 a month base fee makes $240 a year). Skype users are using the service for free. Turn it into a service subject to charge and you can kiss goodbye the customer base.

Skype is a paying service too. There are over a million registered SkypeOut users (at last count) who've all paid real money for the ability to make calls from their computer to fixed and mobile phone at discounted rates.

There's SkypeIn which allows you to receive calls at a number you can chose in any number of countries in the world. I.e., as an American, you can sign up for a French phone number so your French girlfriend can call you in the US from her phone at local rates. There's also voicemail. Those services are all paying. Skype has other sources of revenue too. It has technology which it licences to companies like Siemens (whose DECT phones are Skype compatible), Nokia etc. It has partnership agreements with companies like Plantronics who bundle Skype with headsets and with ISPs that offer SkypeOut time with a subscription. There's also a wi-fi Skype phone in the works.

[TETENAL]

I'm not getting a DECT-phone due to the radiation. I'm fully content with my CT1+ phone.

Originally Posted by Troll

There are over a million registered SkypeOut users (at last count) who've all paid real money for the service.

Do you work for them?

1 million paying customers makes $3,100 that Ebay paid per customer. Good luck in getting that money back. Meanwhile I wish there was a competing internet auction house that doesn't charge outrageous commissions.

[baw]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

...Ebay purchases Skype for $3.1 billions and gets a chat program?!...

[wdlove]

I look forward to being able to chat live with my friends.

[Mastrap]

I am surprised too. Skype has been looking to be bought for quite some time now but has also been considered overpriced for what it delivers.

This is a lot of money for a small number off revenue generating customers IMO.

[saddino]

Originally Posted by wdlove

I look forward to being able to chat live with my friends.

Translation: Run for your life, Cody Dawg, run! (or a the very least, do not install Skype)

[baw]

I'm not calling that guy, he has negative feedback.

[FulcrumPilot]

Damn ebay beat me to it!!

[DeathToWindows]

shyte me!

[JoshuaZ]

Someone at my office was clamoring out how you could pay like 30 Euro a month and get a US phone number that works with scype. This is handy if you know, you live in Japan and want you family to make local calls to you. Then again I'm just happy with video chatting.

[porieux]

...

[Oisín]

I just wanted to add that I only realised last night via the news on telly that Skype not only comes from Denmark, the previous owner also has the same first name as I do. I feel very proud now.