The media is full or rumors that Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) could by Skype. Cisco has a history or M&A, and Skype would fit with its move into consumer voice and video communications. Cisco has diversified from selling enterprise routers to telecom and cable companies to the business of set-top boxes, home Wi-Fi, and personal video conferencing
Skype was spun out of Ebay (NASDAQ: EBAY) a year ago. Skype has been said to be planning its own IPO. TechCruch reports that the price for Skype would be $5 billion. Skype’s revenue this year is expected to be $800 million.
The move is dangerous. There are a number of providers of free voice service. Skype is the largest with 500 million subscribers but Googe (NASDAQ: GOOG) has just launched a free telephone voice service as part of its GMail service. MSN and AOL Mail are likely to follow suit to remain competitive.
Skype’s core business has become a commodity and a commodity that will be worth very little very soon.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
