Could Bittorrent Inc. Be the Next Big IPO?

Some are contemplating if BitTorrent Inc could be the next big dot-com IPO since Google's mad run caused a fever on on Wall St back in 2004 but, does the current and future state of the video download service look good enough to make it a successful bet?.

It's been a while since Google went public back in 2004 to much fanfare on Wall St and press the world over, and stock-market investors have been looking for the next big "dot-com thing" ever since.

We have all watched Google's profits, market capitalization, and profits soar to stratospheric heights, and many have wondered what company will be the one to follow in such big footsteps.

Now I don't think anybody's foolhardy enough to predict that BitTorrent Inc. will have anywhere near the success or impact that Google has but, the POTENTIAL for a huge impact on the nature and model of video content distribution as we know it is definitely within the realm of possibilities.

"When downloading a movie, it should be faster than a pizza delivery. That's a safe rule of thumb with us," said Ashwin Navin, the president, COO and co-founder of BitTorrent.

It currently has content distribution agreements with Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Palm Pictures and Kadokawa Pictures USA, and as everybody will tell you, "content is King." With iTunes offerings limited to that of Disney, ABC, and Lionsgate, BitTorrent Inc. is head and shoulders above the competition.

Plus, they have an "anti-Google" situation on their side where Viacom, NBC, News Corp., and just about every other major media company whose content winds up on YouTube looking for a viable online video site alternative. Tired of not getting what they feel is their proper cut of ad-revenue from Google, which is a fair assessment considering since they did all the work to create and produce in the first place, BitTorrent Inc. just could be the next YouTube in that it would be more than happy to distribute or stream their content under terms far more favorable to the media companies than Google would ever dream of offering. This alone may be why BitTorrent really could be the next darling of Wall St.

As far as their video download service is concerned, its current state is probably its biggest weakness. Riddled with DRM and playback problems, this and the fact that its pretty hard if not impossible to convince people that it's better to pay for what they currently can get for free, makes the future of this portion of their business look less than bright. But, its rumored ad-supported Net TV service, possibly in conjunction with YouTube-disgruntled media companies as I mentioned could perhaps more than make up for this shortcoming.

Ashwin Navin, president, COO and co-founder of BitTorrent Inc., has also mentioned recently that they are going to release a corporate version of their BitTorrent Entertainment Network called BitTorrent DNA, sometime in the 2nd quarter of this year. Some companies are apparently already testing it but, he declined to name who they are.

Navin's also hopeful that BitTorrent Inc. will be able to create a lucrative new revenue stream by licensing its BitTorrent protocol technology to companies who wish to both cut down on the costs of maintaining central servers as well as be able to to deliver files faster and more cheaply than typical downloads.

It might just be that BitTorrent Inc's status as a distribution platform more so than as a content destination may be what sets it apart to be successful in a such a highly competitive and crowded playing field.