Intellectual Property Law

Skype Annualized Revenues Now Top $500 Million

By Cynthia Brumfield

Online auction giant eBay issued its Q2 earnings (PDF) results this afternoon, helping to lift an already improving mood on Wall Street by posting a 20% jump in net profits to $568 million with revenue also growing by 20% to $2.2 billion.

The shining star in eBay's porfolio was PayPal, which boosted revenue by 33% year-over-year to $602 million as active users and net payment volume grew by healthy clips. Skype, eBay's ugly stepchild due to its inflated purchase price, also posted healthy growth, although Skype barely generated much discussion during the company's earnings call.

During Q2 08, Skype added 29.2 million registered users, a run rate up 22% year-over-year. By quarter's end, Skype counted 338.2 million registered users.

Revenues for Skype (most Skype users pay nothing for the service) rose to $136 million, up 51% year-over-year -- on an annualized basis, then, Skype's revenues now top reach $544 million.

Skype-to-Skype minutes were 14.8 billion during the quarter, up 37% year-over-year, while revenue-generating SkypeOut minutes were 1.8 billion, up 38% year-over-year. Although eBay no doubt continues to feel the sting of being forced last year to write-down $1.4 billion in value on Skype (which the company purchased for $4.1 billion in 2005), the popular VoIP service nonetheless is a continued growth engine.

(To download our historical and financial operating data for Skype, visit our database dynamics section. The download is free but registration is required.)

Full post as published by IP Democracy on July 16, 2008 (boomark / email).