by
Mark Evans
on Fri 10 Jun 2005 04:06 PM EDT |
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If you believe that where there's smoke, there's fire, then there could be something to the rumors of a Skype-Yahoo marriage. Engadget - supported by
Andy Abramson - has a posting the two companies are getting pretty cozy. It would be an interesting union because it would give Yahoo a popular voice application for its Yahoo! Messenger platform. Skype's investors, which include
Draper Fisher Jurvetson, would likely see a huge return as would
Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom, who made little money from his last gig, Kazaa. If Yahoo buys Skype, I would be somewhat surprised given Skype is just starting to gain momentum in terms of revenue from premium services such as SkypeIn and SkypeOut. Why sell out now when it's just beginning to get fun? Skype and Zennstrom are also still revelling in their status as a telecom rebel, even though issues such as 911 are bringing Skype into the fold. Still, money talks and Yahoo has lots of it to make strategic deals. Do not be surprised, however, if Skype's 30+ million users attracts rival bids from players such as Google or Microsoft.