eBay is showing that it’s taking the mobile space seriously and the online auctioning giant has just purchased the mobile application developer Critical Path Software for an undisclosed amount.
The deal makes a lot of sense, as the two companies had previously worked together to develop the official eBay iPhone app and others. The Critical Path team will be folded in to the eBay mobile team.
“We’re very serious about innovating in mobile commerce, and this acquisition underscores our commitment to bringing the very best and brightest in the field to eBay,” said Mark Carges, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global products, said in a prepared statement. “Integrating the Critical Path Software team into eBay will be a big win for mobile shoppers around the world; combined with the talent on our team today, we can make shopping and selling anywhere, anytime, for almost anything, even better.”
The company is making a bigger push in the mobile space, as it is currently advertising its apps all over buses in San Francisco (complete with QR codes to download the programs). This appears to be paying off too, as it recently said it posted a record $13 million in mobile shopping for a single day.
It recently purchased the RedLaser company, which produces a mobile barcode-scanning app. The company wasted little time in integrating this into its iPhone app and in the Milo app, which it just acquired.
[Via eBay]