EBay CEO casts company as center of innovation

EBay Inc, seeking to cast off a perception that it is behind the curve, strove on Thursday to cast itself as a reinvented company and an innovator at the center of tech-driven e-commerce.

It also said it expected revenue at its PayPal unit to reach USD 6-7 billion by 2013.

"We are a different eBay," said eBay Chief Executive John Donahoe, speaking at an analyst day held at its San Jose headquarters.

"We're at an inflection point where tech-driven innovation is broadly shaping e-commerce and shifting consumer behavior. This shift is creating new global opportunities for our company," he said. "We are driving the next generation of e-commerce."

The company's two main businesses are its online marketplace, which remains in a turnaround, and its fast-growing PayPal, an online payments company.

The company expects PayPal's revenue to reach USD 6-7 billion by 2013, PayPal president Scott Thompson, said. Revenue in the unit was USD 3.4 billion in 2010.

But investors are anxious to see stabilization and growth at eBay's marketplaces site, which represents the bulk of revenue -- USD 5.7 billion in 2010.

Although the company is making ongoing improvements, growth still lags that of overall e-commerce, which is dominated by main rival Amazon.com.

EBay was the pioneer of the Web auction during the dotcom boom, but the novelty of its marketplaces business eventually waned and shoppers complained that transactions were complicated and sometimes subject to fraud.

Since eBay last held an analyst day in March 2009, the company has worked to heighten trust and safety on its site while trying to update what many e-commerce experts have called the site's outdated search technology.

The majority of eBay's online buyers now make fixed-price purchases, which eBay says are more popular. The company has also been at the forefront of mobile applications, and consumers can use eBay's app and scan technology to compare prices on smartphones while shopping.

"We are starting to play offense at this company," said Donahoe.