It's always interesting when a small developer gets acquired by a large, well-known entity, but the decision by eBay's PayPal division to buy Duff Research drew particular interest from online observers for what it said about the mobile commerce industry.
PayPal CTO James Baresse announced the news via the PayPal blog, where he saluted the achievements of the team at Duff Research--a firm of under 20 people based in Sunnyvale, Calif.--which has won multiple CES awards for its mobile apps. "This talented team of engineers will be joining the PayPal technology team to help us build creative and simple ways for our customers to use the PayPal digital wallet," Baresse wrote.
Several developers and analysts interpreted the acquisition as a sign of how difficult it's becoming for even the largest technology companies to effectively crack the smartphone payment market.
Speedy execution is key. PayPal is definitely better off buying a mobile app developer vs banding its own team. ow.ly/iTPtY
— Imran Aftab (@imranaftab) March 14, 2013
Mobile Development is different - so PayPal acquired a frim to do it. techcrunch.com/2013/03/13/pay…
— dionlisle (@dionlisle) March 13, 2013
Mobile app developers in high demand. Even Paypal has 2 buy a firm to get talent. ow.ly/iXYZK
— MaribelLopez (@MaribelLopez) March 15, 2013
For the most part, however, the deal seemed to make sense to many people as an example of an established online giant staying nimble by focusing on where its customers are spending more of their time.
Wow. #MobileFirst corporate strategy move by #PayPal. Buys mobile add dev engineering team from Duff Research. thepaypalblog.com/2013/03/paypal…
— KP (@shukla) March 14, 2013
Businesses try to lead both online & mobile as @paypal demonstrates in acquiring #mobile app development company Duff pehub.com/190977/reuters…
— Flow(@flowdotnet) March 14, 2013
A blogger from Zacks Equity Research suggested that, if successful, the combination of PayPal and Duff Research could ruffle some feathers among a few other online giants, too.
The acquisition will likely put PayPal in a better competitive position against rival mobile payment systems such as Google Inc's digital wallet, Isis, Square and others. As smartphone migration continues, eBay is seeing great opportunities in the mobile space. The Duff Research acquisition is yet another move by PayPal to strengthen its position in the mobile payments space," wrote Zacks.
If nothing else, the acquisition showed how even a startup app developer with little more than talent could grow through sharp focus and execution to being effectively recruited for a major app project.
Never #funded by #VC, #DuffResearch will help @paypal transition to #mobile & maintain status in #onlinepayment mkt; bit.ly/WpWCNV
— PrivCo (@PrivCo) March 14, 2013