eBay Acquires Mobile Application Developer

Web commerce company eBay Inc has acquired Critical Path Software, a mobile software application developer, as the company further embraces selling via mobile.

Critical Path Software has worked with eBay for over two years, most importantly developing its app for Apple Inc's iPhone, which eBay says has been downloaded more than 14 million times. Other apps that Critical Path worked on include those for eBay's ticket site StubHub, eBay Classified and shopping site Shopping.com.

eBay- which is striving to revive growth in its main marketplaces division, where buyers meet sellers- is increasingly focused on mobile commerce, which can allow consumers to browse in stores and price compare on eBay. The value of all goods sold via mobile at eBay was more than $600 million in 2009, and is expected to rise to $1.5 billion this year. The company owns PayPal, a web payments system, which also allows consumers to pay via mobile. PayPal expects more than $500 million in mobile payment volume around the world for 2010.

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