Analysts Say Skype Division Is In A Slow Down

There are signs the once high-flying growth rate of eBay Inc.’s Skype division has begun to slow down, RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan noted to clients Tuesday.A recent check by Rohan and associates found that two key Skype metrics, downloads and new users, are dipping and flattening out respectively when compared to earlier performance.”Our recent checks indicate … that the user growth is no longer accelerating,” Rohan wrote to clients. “EBay may need to spend on marketing or offer price promotions to reaccelerate growth heading into 2007. If eBay chooses to do both, margins would fall short or our revised forecast.”What he found was that Skype, which provides Internet-based phone calling services, is on track in the third-quarter to record 51 million more downloads of its free software, which he believes is slightly lower than what Skype recorded in the second quarter.

Is the once high-flying Skype beginning to slow? Yes, sez RBC - MarketWatch

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