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And we’re off and running here at eBay Inc.’s 2009 analyst day. CEO, John Donahoe set the tone this morning by addressing the past, the present and the future with an emphasis on how eBay Inc. is determined to lead and innovate in the ecommerce world, rather than mimic or follow.
A New eBay
He stressed that eBay is no longer an online auctions company, nor a retail company, but an ecommerce platform provider with a simple, unified vision: to connect buyers and sellers.
Repeating his assertion from past earnings’ calls that “we are a strong company, getting stronger” John cited PayPal’s continued growth, acceleration in classifieds, advertising and StubHub businesses and, echoing what I heard at the Accel Digital Symposium at Stanford last month, Skype’s position as a great standalone business. “When we bought Skype,” he said. “We were wrong. We thought it would reduce friction in commerce and payments.” He went on to say that we’re done apologizing for Skype. It’s a great business that is well positioned as a communications leader.
eBay Inc. 3-year Outlook and beyond – PayPal Will Become Bigger Than eBay
John really emphasized the power of PayPal stating he believed it will become the leading online global payments network by 2012. “No Paper, no plastic – just PayPal”. He also stated that eBay will win the global secondary marketplace and will be a leader in ecommerce.
Given the schedule of the day, and the speakers to come, one got the impression that John was merely scratching the surface on what is going to come out of the day’s presentations. I’m sure some people will find some aspects more interesting than others. For me, I’m looking forward to hearing about how we plan on using technology to better our customer’s experiences (regardless of platform). Whether it be PayPal, StubHub, eBay Marketplaces, etc., I want to know how technology will be relevant to our customers. Just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should.
UPDATED 3/12/09:
View Jim Goldman’s exclusive interview with John Donahoe on CNBC by clicking HERE.
Read Scott Thompson’s follow-up post from yesterday’s analyst day over on the PayPal Blog.
Cheers,
RBH
Related Links:
NY Times Bits Blog: Chief Promises a ‘New EBay’ and Talks Up PayPal
eBay Strategies: eBay Analyst day – Part II PayPal by Scott Thompson
eBay Strategies: eBay Analyst day cheat sheet
Mobile Tech Today: eBay’s Big Plans for PayPal
eBay Strategies: eBay Analyst day – Part I Intro and Donahoe Opening remarks
AuctionBytes: EBay Analyst Day Notes, Part Two
AuctionBytes: EBay Analyst Day Notes
MocoNews.net: eBay’s Mobile Plans for PayPal
Seeking Alpha: eBay – Where It Stands and Where It Should Be Headed
BusinessWeek: EBay’s Big Plans for PayPal
Mobile Guerilla: eBay to Expand PayPal After RIM Deal
Ecommerce Journal: PayPal to announce plans to work up a market