Microsoft will be retiring Skype, the video-calling service it acquired in 2011 for $8.5 billion, according to an announcement made Friday. The tech company plans to shut down the platform in May and is encouraging users to transition to Microsoft Teams, its primary videoconferencing platform.
Skype users will be able to access Teams using their current account credentials. Microsoft has increasingly prioritized Teams over Skype over the past few years. This decision reflects a broader industry trend in the evolution of online communication platforms.
Founded in 2003 by a team of engineers in Tallinn, Estonia, Skype was an early innovator in internet-based telephone calls, bypassing the landlines. In 2005, after being acquired by online retailer eBay, Skype incorporated video call functions. At the time of Microsoft’s acquisition from eBay in 2011, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed that Skype had approximately 170 million users globally. Ballmer noted during the announcement, “The Skype brand has become a verb, nearly synonymous with video and voice communications.”
Skype remained a significant technological tool into recent years; for instance, the administration of President Donald Trump used the service in 2017 to allow journalists to pose questions remotely to White House officials.
