While eBay’s first quarter results may have been a disappointment for some, the company dispelled fears in the mobile community with figures pointing to massively increased numbers of mobile users.

The auction site gained roughly 2.8 million new mobile users in that period. And the company saying it expects to generate around $20 billion each from mobile commerce and mobile payments this year.

Since the launch of its suite of mobile apps in the Q3 of 2008, there’s been over 162 million downloads – and it seems to be the case that ebay is beginning to take the monetisation of mobile more seriously than ever before.

The company has also hinted at further innovation, saying it plans to test the use of check-ins to provide personal service at retail locations – although the specifics on this aren’t yet entirely clear.

Jack Donahue, president and CEO of ebay, pointed at statistics showing that multi-screen users (ie those who use both conventional desktop browsers as well as mobile apps) spend twice as much as online consumers who aren’t multi-screen users.

Donahue said: “There were over four million new users to Marketplaces last year via mobile devices and the first quarter alone we had a little under three million companywide. So as those consumers go through that ramp up during the first year to two years on our platforms, we’ll see if they ramp up engagement more quickly than has been historical fact.”

“It is a positive trend one way or the other that our mobile strength continues to be a source of competitive advantage.”