Online auction house eBay has said that a valuation of $US2 billion for voice over IP service Skype would be too low a price.
The company last month announced it will spin off Skype in an initial public offering in the first half of 2010, but has now said that a $US2 billion price tag is much too low.
eBay originally paid $US2.6 billion for the service in 2005.
Chief executive John Donahoe said at a retail conference in Barcelona that he thinks Skype is “worth a lot, and I think the numbers speak for themselves…there are not many properties that have that kind of growth”.
Skype now has 400 million users worldwide, and is available in an application format for the iPhone. Apple has said that about 10% of iPhone users have downloaded the app.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
