According to comments from John Donahoe, who took over popular online auction site eBay at the end of last month, the company will consider selling off its Skype internet phone subsidiary at the end of this year if it fails to find ways to use the fast-growing service to support its core e-commerce business. Donahoe's statement is the most direct indication yet that eBay is thinking of scrapping the under-performing acquisition; it paid $3.1 billion, but wrote down the value of the business by $1.4 billion last year after concluding it would not match earlier hopes.

"What we're testing this year are the synergies," Mr Donahoe told the Financial Times this week after eBay reported its latest earnings. "If the synergies are strong, we'll keep it in our portfolio. If not, we'll reassess it." That could lead to the disposal of the business, he indicated.

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eBay, Skype, VoIP, Internet Phone, Corporate News