Skype Files For IPO

helix2301 writes with news that Skype has filed plans with the SEC for an initial public offering. From TechCrunch: "According to the filing, Skype's revenues for the first six months of 2010 were $406 million, with a net income of only $13 million. But a big portion of that was from interest income. That is only a 3 percent net margin, and this isn't exactly a new business. Its income from operations was only $1.4 million for the six months. However, its gross margins are 51 percent, and have been expanding steadily as the company benefits from the scale of is operations and is able to negotiate lower telephone termination fees around the world."

Hello world

[linhares]

so this is the moment skype starts to get serious as a business? they already f*cked up royally by losing the social networking scene to FB, when they had a huge head start. They could have made awesome phones years ago, but blew it with those crappy handsets. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I still haven't seen the full skype client for android and webos. At any rate, this has been a company with so much promise for so long--I can only guess that fiasco with the "joltid" dudes is responsible for these screw-ups.

After IPO

[jcookeman]

Be prepared for an increase in tariffs and other hidden fees.

Why?

[dnaumov]

There are exactly 2 reasons for a company to do an IPO:

One involves injecting a large amount of capital into aggressive growth. Does anyone see any particular way how Skype COULD grow agressively?
The second one involves robbing unsuspecting investors of their money.

What will they do with the money?

[Just_Say_Duhhh]

TFA doesn't give any hint about what they plan to do with the IPO cash, and without that info, it's hard to put a wager on this deal. If this is just a way for Ebay to get a nice payday, count me out.

Re:Hello world

[Sockatume]

Not every web service with a social function needs to be Facebook.

Not all great software needs bespoke hardware. Ubiquitous software abhors it.

The name Skype

[prakslash]

May be it is just me but I never liked the name of the company/service.
I am not against whimsical names. They have been all the rage since the dotcom era.
But, the name has to be at least easily pronunceable (like Google, Twitter etc).

I bet everyone of you has wondered at least once whether it was pronounced "skyyp" or "skyypeh" or "skip" or whatever.
And, to me, this confusion distracts the customer. Makes the company look amateur. And, makes the customer wonder about the quality and the professionalism of the compnay's services.

Re:Hello world

[Anonymous Coward]

Not every web service needs to be Facebook, but regardless, just about every web service organized as a business wants to be Facebook.

Re:The name Skype

[Ksevio]

Actually, I've never wondered that. It's pronounced the same way as "Type" or "Hype" - it's not like they made up a strange new spelling combination.

Re:Good Luck, Skype

[larry bagina]

as opposed to part of eBay, sister to paypal?

with all that IPO cash

[serbanp]

they should fix the goddamn security issues and start having decent CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

Starting in 2007, I was a loyal skypeout customer, plunking something like 75 to 100 USD/mo into my skype account and even buying dedicated skype hardware (I have an ipevo skype handset). However, last month someone apparently broke into my account, twice, and successfully charged my CC for skypeout credit into a different account! Not big deal (my bank reversed the charge), however, skype's own customer support proved to be totally incompetent tracking the issue or even acknowledging that there is a problem. They lost me as a customer.

To be successful, skype needs paying customers. Unless they come to their senses and fix the glaring security problems (their forums are full of stories like mine) and implement a real customer support system (no, one email reply per day is NOT C.S.) , they won't attract and keep too many of them customers.

Re:Good Luck, Skype

[Pharmboy]

They are actually looking forward to the IPO so that they can spend some of the initial capital making some (to use his words) "much needed improvements."

Over the last 20 years, I can't help but notice that every time they have an IPO, to make some "much needed improvements", all the original founders start driving really expensive cars and move into very different neighborhoods. Not that I blame them, but part of me always thinks that an IPO is always planned to happen at the zenith of their theoretical worth, before the reality of the a poor business model kicks in and everyone realizes you can't make much money doing whatever it is the company does. Netscape is the prime example. But then again, while I've never used Skype, I can see much more utility in what they are doing than just a web browser.