Skype IPO Papers Filed with SEC

by Jordan Yerman | August 9, 2010 at 11:35 am

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Skype Files for IPO

Peer-to-Peer VOIP and messaging service Skype has filed for an IPO, less than a year after being sold by eBay. (Skype IPO filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission)

With over 560 million registered users and eight million paying customers, Skype has grown over 40% from last year.

When Skype goes public, though, its priorities would change. The focus, more than ever, would be on maximizing profit quickly, which would likely mean fewer development resources for the free services.

The company said it has 124 million users as of June 30. Skype to Skype minutes were 88.4 billion for the six months ended June 30, up from 49.1 billion for the same period a year ago. Billing minutes for the six months ended June 30 were 6.4 billion, up from 5 billion in 2009.

Investors Not Believing the Skype Hype

But without a presence in any of the hottest parts of the chip market, like mobile phones, Wall Street investors were unwilling to come up with the sort of valuation tech companies have historically been used to.

“Investors are just sceptical about secular growth coming in any sector of tech,” said one Silicon Valley banker.