Intellectual Property Law

Skype Continues its Slow and Steady Uptick

By Cynthia Brumfield

Online auction giant eBay issued its Q3 08 earnings results (PDF) today showing a 12% year-over-year rise in revenue to $2.12 billion and a net profit of $492 million, compared to a loss of $936 million during Q3 07, when eBay took a $1.4 billion write-down on its Skype acquisition. Despite the good news, eBay lowered its full-year revenue forecast as the global economic slow-down takes it toll.

Skype's status as the skunk in eBay's barn is not wholly deserved. During the quarter, the VoIP pioneer added 32.8 million net new registered users, up from the 26 million net adds posted during Q3 07. By quarter's end, Skype had a global user base of 371 million, compared to 246 million at the end of Q3 07.

The problem is that eBay hasn't been able to figure out a way to monetize this massive telephone user base. Revenues stem almost solely from Skype Out minutes (calls made to landlines or mobile phones as opposed to calls made PC-to-PC), which jumped to 2.2 billion during the quarter, up from 1.8 billion during the preceding quarter.

Even with the growth in Skype Out minutes, revenue at Skype only ticked up by $7 million to $143 million due to either a drop in the average price/minute for Skype Out or to increased usage of lower-priced Skype Out options. During Q3 07, Skype's revenues rose by $8 million to reach $98 million.

(Download our historical and current financial and operational data for Skype here. It's free, but you have to regsiter.)

Full post as published by IP Democracy on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).