Less two years into the hype cycle, and the VoIP services are going through a shakeout, indicating that there is little or no room for tiny-tots, especially the ones with a dubious claim to fame. TheGlobe, which tried its best to hype-up its GloPhone/VoiceGlo service is looking to exit the VoIP business. Things have not been going too well for the company which was hyping its GloPhone for most of 2004, especially its partnership with another sinker, Friendster. In more recent times it has been sued by Sprint-Nextel for patent infringement.
The company which claims 4.8 million registered users, has hired Kaufman Brothers as investment advisors. The company trades on the OTC Bulletin Board, for about 42 cents a share. In the quarter ending Sept 30, 2005, It had $48,341 in VoIP revenues, but it spent nearly $1.7 million to get those revenues.
Previously we saw the big ticket exit of Skype that sold out to eBay for $2.6 billion ($4.1 billion if you took into account the earnouts), Yahoo bought DialPad, and Microsoft bought Teleo. Vonage is said to be shopping itself, looking for a buyer even as it tries to complete an IPO.
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2:38 AM PT
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4 comments so far
1:54 AM PT
Here is another one trading at $1.5. (link) ;)
9:37 AM PT
I would say that this is not a good business because Glo Phone is getting out of it, the reality is the business has changed and it is becoming more of a peer to peer type of service like aim and customers are less likely to pay for this type of service. Google, Yahoo and Ebay realized that this would be a great add on tool to their communities and would help take their IM clients to whole new level.
10:33 AM PT
Don’t forget, Google is also taking the piece in VoIP cake with GTalk.
2:58 AM PT
Rememebr their will always be marketers and the network providers. Companies like The Globe tried to be both. Their are companies which focus on the network/technology to make it work, and their are companies who build brands and services to run on those networks. VoIP Inc provides network and technology to companies, so the model is different. Companies like Vonage build on brand on services which run on those networks. Tough to be both in an industry which changes hourly. The shakeup will allow the companies best positioned to brand a service to partner with network providers, and that will be success models moving forward. I dont see the likes of Google, Microsfot, Yahoo deploying switches to interconnect to the PSTN thru the US and world, they will form partnerships with carriers/network providers that do. Let each do what they do best.
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