People are on their phones all the time, surfing the Web, emailing, and more and more, they're beginning to purchase a variety of goods online. According to Bloomberg's BusinessWeek, in 2010, the mobile commerce industry will equal $25.2 billion; by 2015, that number will reach an astounding $129 billion.
Don't call it a comeback
Over the past five years, eBay's (Nasdaq: EBAY) share price has plunged some 50% as it slowly lost ground in the online retail space to its biggest competitor, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). Over the past three years, marketplace revenues have been languishing around the $5 billion mark, and free cash flow has steadily been decreasing.
Yet the mobile boom may just be what the doctor ordered for the original online auctioneer.
Consumers are using Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android software to snatch up their favorite clothing items, or in eBay's case, anything from a rare piece of art to an automobile. EBay has been quick to take advantage of the situation, offering up 14 mobile apps that allow users to buy, sell, and dig around for great deals. This is no doubt a smart move -- users of Apple's iPad are likely to spend three or four times more money than if they were on an iPhone or a different smartphone. Undoubtedly, this is going to end up being a real growth driver for eBay if it can hit the ground running with new and improved apps and if it manages to stay one step ahead of Amazon. Mobile is still a very small portion of eBay's $9 billion in revenue, but the potential is enormous.
The Foolish conclusion
EBay's second-quarter results were fairly positive; although it saw its marketplace revenues drop, it has been consistently increasing sales from its pay service, which includes PayPal and Bill Me Later. The company expects that the second half of 2010 could be difficult as the dollar strengthens and its revenues abroad translate into few greenbacks. The bad news is that that is out of eBay's control; the good news is that it is growing its mobile service, and it seems to have beaten Amazon to the punch.
What do you think about eBay right now? Selling for 11 times trailing earnings, is this a great tech deal or is eBay just old news? Sound off in the comment section below!
