Best quotes on Skype/Ebay

It occurs to me this also removes some of the doubt about Skype as a business model, at least in 1999 terms: if you build it, they will buy.

- Staci from PaidContent.org

Charlie Sierra calculates: “So at 50m downloads, that’s $52/download, or $26 In CASH per download.” Downloads, are the new “Pageviews” it seems!

- Om Malik

Niklas had the last word on the call: "It's been a pleasure." I'm sure it has!

- James Enck, referring to the CEO/founder of Skype, who is probably now a billionaire as a result of this deal.

Oh, Shit!

- Jeffrey Citron, CEO of Vonage

Ok, just kidding about that last one. Maybe he's actually happy about it.

Posted

EBay buys Skype!

Good Lord.

So the rumors were true!

UPDATE: Reading the press release on the skype website, I find it interesting to read this about combined opportunities:

The acquisition also enables eBay and Skype to pursue entirely new lines of business. For example, in addition to eBay’s current transaction-based fees, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a pay-per-call basis through Skype. Pay-per-call communications opens up new categories of ecommerce, especially for those sectors that depend on a lead-generation model such as personal and business services, travel, new cars, and real estate. eBay’s other shopping websites — Shopping.com, Rent.com, Marktplaats.nl and Kijiji – can also benefit from the integration of Skype.

Well, I first wrote about the pay-per-call opportunity from the perspective of Google. Glad to see that eBay has recognized the same potential.

UPDATE2: From the eBay/Skype investor call, via The Register:

Whitman explained that eBay currently runs on a transaction fee basis - sellers pay a variety of charges on selling items. But Skype will enable eBay to get into the lead generation business where sellers of products or services pay a fee to receive a phone call from an interested punter. According to Whitman, US firms pay between $2 and $12 for such leads. Sales of new cars, travel, business services and real estate could all be helped by lead generation, a market she valued at $3.5bn a year.

LLooks like this is eBay's play to leapfrog Google by bypassing the already highly-competitive pay-per-click game, and going straight to pay-per-call, which is still fertile, new territory.

Posted

Getting out while they can

From the Sunday Times: Centrica looks to ditch telecoms arm in strategy u-turn.

And from the same article:

John Caudwell, billionaire owner of the Phones 4U retail chain, has kicked off the sale of his fixed-line telecoms business, Caudwell Communications, which operates in the residential market as Homecall. It is set to fetch up to £100m

Hmm....long shot speculation here, but could it be that these smart folks see the gathering pace of the telco Scorched Earth stategy (see previous post) and are getting out of the way while they still can?

Posted

“Scorched Earth” Telco strategy: the offers

Quick redux on the telco "Scorched Earth" strategy: in recognizing that voice minutes are a commodity with declining prices and margins, they are themselves proactively deflating the entire voice market to zero.

The technique that make this possible is bundling.

Telcos are combining in one price broadband internet with unlimited local + national voice (and in some cases, loads of digital radio and TV channels). The single price point is often around what consumers have been used to paying for broadband alone, so effectively it's like voice is being given away for free.

My previous post on telco Scorched Earthism was in context to the deadly danger it poses to Skype's business model.

In this post, I'd like to highlight some of the actual offers that are out there:

  • Free.fr (France) - 29,99 Euros/month for 20 meg ADSL, 100 TV channels, 24/7 free local + national voice calls.
  • Neuf.fr (France) - Same offer as Free, but without the TV
  • Jazztel.es (Spain) - 32.95 + VAT Euros/month for 6 meg ADSL (20 starting in October), 24/7 free local + national voice calls.
  • Ya.com (Spain) - 26.95 + VAT Euros/month for 2 meg ADSL, 24/7 free local + national voice calls

There are many others; I'll add to the list as I run into them again.

Posted

Rise of the Church of FSM

It seems more and more people are being touched by His Noodly Appendage.

The UK's Sunday Telegraph has a pretty good article with background on FSMism. Is this the start of European expansion for Pastafarian PR?

But the real issue behind FSMism is already being discussed in Europe: a few weeks ago the UK's Observer had a great article by Richard Dawkins that explains just why teaching creationism should not be done in science class, if at all.

Seems to me there's no problem in teaching that people believe in Creationism, but it should be done in context: history class or religion class. But not in Science class! Previous posts of FSMism here and here

Posted

Flat tax in UK?

The flat tax meme continues to spread, with the news that the Conservative party is to investigate adopting it in the UK.

The Economist weighs in (no registration required for this article) with a realistic view of the likely economic benefits but political risks of a flat tax in Britain.

The assessment seems to be that it will be politically hard to pass no matter what the economic benefits. It might be that advanced economies will only be able to push it through once it's spread to all the developing economies and there's no longer any rational choice but to follow.

Posted

Don’t mess with Texas, and all that

Have just read this  astonishing news:

Lance Armstrong plans to train with his team this winter, increasing speculation he will end his retirement and attempt an eighth straight Tour de France win.

Armstrong, who announced his engagement Monday to rock singer Sheryl Crow, issued a statement Tuesday confirming that he's considering a comeback in part to rankle French media.

That would be incredible.

Posted

iTunes Phone pricing: actually not bad

So the iTunes phone is finally coming out, and it looks like cellcos will be selling songs for $2 each.

Mark Evans and Om are not impressed. They wonder why anyone would pay $2 for a song when they can get the same song for $0.99 via the web.

But this overlooks the value of mobility and reach.

Kind of like asking why anyone would pay 10-40 cents/minute to make a call on a mobile phone when you can make the same call for 2 cents/minute at home.

That extra $1.01 per song is actually the value a consumer will be willing to pay to get the song they want NOW, at a bus station, nightclub, beach, or wherever.

I'm not sure if the premium for mobility is as important for consumers in buying songs as it is for calling someone, but it's probaby still worth something.

Posted

Spam spam spam…

This latest trackback entry is why I don't allow trackbacks/comments anymore on my blog:

Unbiased Reality Porn Sites Reviews of the hottest reality porn on the net, plus links to the sites that are all pop-up FREE!

The blogosphere is fundamentally about communicating with others. Without the interactivity of conversation, this would just be Old Skool newspapers online.

Somebody needs to find a way to keep these spammers out.

Posted