As another sign of the continuing growth of the mobile payment landscape and the consolidation of related companies, eBay announced today that it has acquired the company that develops its mobile applications software.

Critical Path Software is a mobile application developer that has worked with eBay for more than two years to help deliver popular mobile apps such as the eBay for iPhone app, and StubHub, eBay Classifieds and Shopping.com iPhone applications. The company, established in 1991 and based in Portland, Oregon, was one of the first developers to create mobile apps for the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms.

According to eBay, the acquisition will allow the company to accelerate its efforts to improve the mobile experience for its customers. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“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, eBay Marketplaces. “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.”

With more than 200 million listings available globally at any given time on eBay, shoppers have access to a wide selection of merchandise right from their mobile phones.

eBay Mobile collaborated with Critical Path Software most recently on eBay Inc.’s most popular mobile app, the iPhone 2.0 core eBay app, which has been downloaded by more than 14 million times since its launch in 2008. Critical Path Software also was a key contributor in developing mobile apps enabling users to buy tickets on-the-go on StubHub; search local listings on eBay Classifieds; and access more than 7,000 global merchants on Shopping.com.

Source: Business Wire