Skype and eBay join forces
The rumors are over. This just got announced. To celebrate the event, go ahead and download the latest stable public version of Skype. See also eBay’s webcast and other info from their events page.
Below is a letter from Niklas and Janus about the occasion.
Hello,
When Janus and I originally created Skype, we had a vision of creating the world’s largest communications company to revolutionise the way everyone communicates through the internet.
We believed that voice is the most natural way for people to communicate and that making it widely and easily available would be a major step forward in Internet communications. We also thought that as the Internet grew, there was no reason why everyone in world shouldn’t be able to talk for free.
We set out to build software which was not just powerful but also incredibly easy to install and use. Janus and I wanted to make something which would make talking on the Internet the simplest and most natural thing in the world.
We are now working with an amazing dedicated and talented team of people across the world to deliver on this vision. Skype people are now in 15 countries, from 27 nationalities and everyday we wake up and think about one thing — how can we make voice the most natural form of Internet communication.
It seems to have caught on.
In only two years, we have been fortunate to have experienced spectacular growth. There are now over 54 million people using Skype to talk for free to families, friends and colleagues in 225 countries and territories around the world — everyday another 150,000 new people sign up to join in. We also have a fantastic and fast-growing network of thousands of partners and developers building exciting hardware and software products, as well services around the Skype experience.
Now today we are thrilled to be joining forces with Meg Whitman and the fantastic team at eBay to help us deliver on our vision and help make Skype the voice of the Internet. Working with eBay and Paypal — two of the greatest brands on the Internet — we can’t think of any more powerful platforms to accelerate our growth.
We want to take this opportunity to thank every one of you who has contributed so far to the growth of Skype. But let’s remember, we’ve only just begun to write the story of becoming the voice of the Internet.
We are totally motivated for now and the next several years to continue all this great work and to try to exceed all of your expectations and more. We have some great ideas about what happens in the next chapter and think we have some powerful friends to help us realize our dreams. We can’t wait to work with you all in writing the next chapter and together make it possible for the whole world to talk for free.
Thanks again, all our best
Niklas and Janus
U R great genious people .We hope more from to push human’s civilasation fowrward.Thank yuo.
I congatulate skype for the hard work u guys have done by deleivering such an amazing and cost saving product to we the SKYPERS.
Hope being a part of eBay will only make it better.
so it will help you fight against google talk ? A big player behind you? But definitly no chance for an open source version of skype. hey ebay, pls make native alsa support possible. And good luck in China …
Will now Skype open up towards Standards (SIP) based VoIP providers?
It is clear that the open-standards based providers are getting more and more popular.
Hey, I have friends in both camps – I want to communicate transparently with both domains – and I do not mean a “dual mode client”.
And since Skype is a leader in Internet thinking and openness, this VoIP-to-VoIP peering should be in the pipeline?
Great – now you’ve got some more cash how about:
- Video calling (from PC to Mac too). Can’t you just buy and properly integrate vSkype?
- Centralised billing / invoicing for corporate customers (I work at an NGO and keeping all our accounts topped up is a pain)
One comment on the ebay deal. Does ebay really want all its customers calling each other? They might end up getting to know each other better and end up, shock horror, dealing outside of ebay!
I agree with jannehoss that Skype could now take the next step towards voip-standards like SIP etc.
Hi Niklas, Jaanus
Congratulations!
Let’s just
Keep Skyping
BR,
Morden Skyper.
Way to go you guys!
Hours spent talkin to my loved ones (and who I fell in love with thru skype) on Skype and I cannot thank you guys more! I am indebted to your team!
Hope your products become even more exciting as you go ahead!
All the best!
Cheers,
Glifford
(1 Great Company + 1 Great Company) = 1 FABULOUS Company.
Go on, guys, keep changing the world!
Thank you from all of us (and to all of us)
Cepo
Skype seems to be a tremendous, innovative and interesting company which follows good design practices whereas E-bay is a cumbersome behemoth with bad customer service and complacent and illogical web design, which is unchanged in about a decade.
So they have shown an ability to snap up a good company, but where would the benefit be to Skype customers (other than the company being better able to fend off Telcos)?
E-bay seem to have sured up the reputation of Paypal which was a good idea that suffered a bad rep., possibily due to under-resourcing. But there has been little development of this company for its customers as it rakes in their money through overcharging.
I hope the Skype community keeps developing, and maybe cause Ebay to widen its horizons!
Tim
C’est fantastic!
Connecting the eBay brand and resources to Skype is very powerful news that will catapult Skype! Is the infrastructure ready to 1M new customers a day
Another first from my side as well. Made my first call while overseas from India to California to my wife. I had reservations and was worried things would go wrong……I am happy to report that my wife did great, she took the call and even called me back to talk some more.
Verticello from Pune, India.
Congratulations on the deal with eBay. Hopefully this will meen even more time & investment into what is already a wonderful product.
As long as computer-computer calls are free, then on top of that having pay services that are value-added (such as SkypeOut) then I’m sure Skype will continue in it’s popularity.
Also continued development for non-windows platforms is a must. I’m a Mac user, and would hope that parallel PC & Other Platform development continues.
I can’t wait to see what eBay has in store for Skype. I’m really looking forward to the idea of being able to talk to sellers and buyers on eBay with Skype. eBay just better not make us pay for Skype or any junk like that.
I can’t help but feel slightly troubled by this deal between Skype and Ebay… given the arguably aggressive commercial nature of the latter, surely we’re not really supposed to believe that it’s all about providing the best possible internet telephony service?!
Been using Skype for the past month whilel here in Athens, Greece to call my home in Thailand and my relatives in the USA…it’s wonderful hope that EBay keeps it the way it is and doesn’t fiddle with what works.
Been using Skype for the past month while here in Athens, Greece to call my home in Thailand and my relatives in the USA…it’s wonderful hope that EBay keeps it the way it is and doesn’t fiddle with what works.
Great work done by Skype! Let’s wait and see the M&C.
Fred, China PRC
PLEASE, don’t let this make SKYPE like AOL, or filled with pop-ups and adware,spyware, etc. It is a great product at a good price, why do I have this feeling eBay will change that?
Hello Niklas and Janus! I would like to wish you a good luck in your business. I think that you are on the right way. May you also had heard about us. I have wrote many letters to Skype team. We will help in Skype development in Central Asia countries by all means. I believe in your idea and I hope you will be the leaders in this business.
Once again good luck guys…
So Skype has been bought by a flea market. Too bad. They should have waited a couple of years, and then they could have bought ebay!
Why isn’t there any affirmation that the services are going to continue as they were?
Why isn’t the skype team assuring us that all will stay as it is?
Or maybe they’re just admiting here that it wont?
I hold my breath and will be following this. Hoping that Skype will grow as it would have growed if bought by Google!
I think I’m not alone saying that we do not trust eBay in doing good. Their hunger for money has scared of many users away, and right now there is no alternative to skype for not-microsoft platforms.
Please ebay, prove me wrong
This is a smart and (very profitable) move for the owners of Skype. You’ve hard so you deserve the deal which will enable you to pocket perhaps much more than an IPO and without the headaches associated with it.
However from the end-user, I am not sure (I am hoping) it will benefit your users- eBay?? Come on, those guys are done. Another few years and no one will need them anymore. They are running around like chicken spending the cash they have and trying to buy themselves another lease on life.
I could see the founders of Skype go off and do it all over again in a new venture. Given the cash they pocketed, they could start something great. More power to you.
I use hope video comes out soon on both XP and Mac versions of Skype and that those idiots at eBay won’t spoil the party.
Sorry, I’m not excited. Selling to eBay just proves that the Skype business model was not successful. Sorry about that, because I think the service is excellent.
So big gets bigger, and innovative and versatile gets bought by big. Way to go.
I have mixed feelings as well. I do not see any great benefit for skype, besides the cash and a position in eBay’s senior management team for one of the skype founders.
For ebay I can see why and what they have from it. An other tool for there auctions and maybe an other tool to make money.
But what is in for skype????
I am also concerned about the handling of my privacy data, the multi platform development of skype, the rebellious nature of skype (which is in my view opposite to ebay) , of keeping the product clean and independent , and of so many more things.
Yes I am troubled and I hope it was not all about money and power, but rather a win – win deal for the users (customers) of both companies.
Well time will tell and sure hope that I do not have to give up skype in the future…
The first time an E-Bay sponsored advert appears on my control panel then I’m out of here. I didn’t get Skype to allow E-Bay or anyone else to try to sell me anything I got it to talk to people. This is a bad news day!!
I wonder what software the link in the beginning of the article talks about, as it is neither the stable or the beta version available in http://www.skype.com/ (at least the size is different). Maybe some older version?
First of all, congratulations for this strategic move. I can see that it is met with some scepticism though. As an Skype user from day two after launch, I do have some serious reservations about the deal though.
I just hope that Niklas and Janus will not allow banners and ads to sneak into the newest versions of Skype. I have, to my horror, discovered one already in the newest Beta release (promoting the use of voicemail). Is this a taste of things to come? I think Skypers would like some transparency and insight. I absolutely love your product and would not want it to be exploited like Kazaa was after it was bought. Most tech-savvy users abhor ads and will do what they can to fend these off. I trust Skype, though I have some serious reservations about eBay though (especially when it comes to my privacy). I sincerely hope eBay-Skype will prove me wrong.
The very best of luck to keeping this program the excellent product it is, and more force to disruptive (ad-free) technology!
This is great NEWS! This could be one of the biggest events for the online community.
Now please add H.264 video conferening and it will all be good!
Pity Skype had to sell out to such a greedy company…The big get bigger, the rich get richer…innovation goes down the plug-hole!
What’s next? No more ‘free’ calls? Will you be required to top up your account with Paypal…Good luck! I don’t do PaySh*t!
-HL
See ya Skype. I loved Skype, and thought it was probably one of the nicest apps around, but I outright refuse to support eBay and any other (PayPal) company that falls under it. Nothing personal towards Skype or the people that have been behind it, I’ve just had a bad history with eBay and now want nothing to do with it. I know, not like one person cares, but I felt like leaving my feedback on this.
It is a pity that Skype has joint Ebay.
The time is over with the P2P telephony without adware and malware. You will see later on all this “mediaplex” “adfarm” etc.
Now we bury the most serious program.
way to sell out skype! i really hate how you sold out…
i though you guys had some pride, but i guess not. eBay must have finnaly found your price. well skype has been unistalled at yahoo messenger with voice is downloading right now. you guys really ruined my day.
once again WAY TO SELL OUT!!
you guys really just made me hate you
Hi Janus and Niklas,
Congratulations – every company you start becomes more successfull! I still remember visiting you in the Everyday.com days in Amsterdam Zuid – it’s amazing to see what you’ve been able to achieve since then.
All the best,
Jeroen Elfferich
Its too bad Skype at least had personality. Now for good old American efficiency, greed, and take it or leave service. Last election eBay gave George Bush and his minions $123,519. Who knows how much soft money. When U. S. tanks come through your town you can thank eBay., at least in part.
Its too bad Skype at least had personality. Now for good old American efficiency, greed, and take it or leave service. Last election eBay gave George Bush and his minions $123,519. Who knows how much soft money. When U. S. tanks come through your town you can thank eBay, at least in part.
Well what can I say that as not already been said…..
I just hope that Ebay is able not to ruin Skype by milking it dry and giving nothing to advance the software.
Goodwill and a good product have put Skype where it is, but, I can just see in the next few weeks ads appearing, banners and spyware being loaded on each time you log on and a the product ruined by a money spending greedy company. You must of had other offers on smaller but better platforms.
A pat on the back to you both for making a good product but I feel it will all be down hill now, but you might not care as you have a nice fat bank balance.
I will keep my fingers cross that it will not be a downward spiral and await developments.
Skype had to grow, to compete with the likes of Google talk, but why not take out a loan. Any bank would have given them a loan. Skype is a hot product that is at the center of the fast growing VoIP market. So paying back that loan would have been a piece of cake.
Anyway! Useless to think about what’s already done. I’m just hoping that the Linux and Mac OS X Skype versions stay, because the world is a multi platform place. Also I wish that eBay would not stick they’re advertisements all around the skype client software, they could let users choose if they want to use eBay or not.
To eBay: I hope you learn something from the Skype team about making a good service and a clear website.
Great way to sell out guys. Perhaps now with your billions you can afford to make regular phone calls, but some of will still rely on your services. I cant wait for the adds and the harrassment by ebay…..
Hey Janus, now that your a bigwig at ebay in California, give a shout out to my peepz in San Francisco
sorry to hear bout this,, had too happen sooner or later I guess, just glad it wasn’t
micsoft.
Hello Janus and Niklas,
I truly hope you guys can still see that vision through all these $$$.
I believed in that vision and made so many friends start using Skype, for the great piece of work it is. Please don´t disappoint us now!
Best regards
I’d better not get ads. When a big company buys a little guys technology you know what happens. The big company incorporates the tech in their own way and raise rates on all of us!! Now is the time to put all your voip uses into voipbuster. It is very cheap and will add more features soon. Great for comp to phone.
Fantastic. Well done and goodbye. I have two offices communicating with each other from across the Atlantic using Skype. And know I’m going to uninstall it and setup GoogleTalk. Why? Because it’s still their own product. How much say will you now have into something that essentialy isn’t yours anymore? Skype was too good to last I suppose and this latest sad buy-out is purely Niklas and Janus fault, but who can resist the siren call of money?
Very, very Cool!!
Congratulations!
PS: and to all you whiners, moaners and people feeling sorry for themselves: why don’t YOU go ahead and develop an idea that makes a buck?
All good things come to an end – unfortunately.
I just watched an interview with Meg Whitman that was full of “Pay Per Call” and “Advertising” comments. The thin end of the wedge for Skype users.
When I started with Skype I did not bother looking at the competition as it came highly recommended and met all my expectations and then some. Now I will start actively evaluating alternatives with a firm view to migrating away. I WILL NOT TOLERATE ADVERTISING. SkypeOut is value for money but I will not pay for ANY other service.
Reluctantly – “Goodbye and thanks for all the fish”
This has been a classic business tactic. Give the subscribers something for free, then once they are signed up sell them add on services to generate reveneue. Once the company has a substantial customer base it is then ripe for selling off – the shareholders walk away much richer and a global business such as ebay adds another product to their portfolio. Niklas and Janus have sold us out and ebay will now influence exactly how skype performs in the future (would you pay $2.9 billion and not determine exactly how that business will operate, wake up and smell the coffee). But of course the business is only as good as the customer base who produce the revenue so maybe it’s time to look elsewhere. So come you skype developers lets create a new version that will hold true to it’s values contact me if you feel strongly enough to take action>>>
You are just greedy assholes and not visioners.
Sorry guys, but the real ones do it for free.
In the end Zennstrom and Friss are just plain capitalist who said they want to help people in the beginning … but only want to fill up their bank account
Let’s hope skype doesn’t start having adverts like ebay overloads us with…
Wow! Nice one guys. I like hearing these type of stories, well done.I can’t help thinking though that ebay are going to ruin it and start making money out of us somewhere along the way. I’ve never used ebay as I always get turned off it when I enter the site unlike Skype. Keep it pure and cool !!! Alan
does this work also for mac?? i can download it…