Video-conferencing platform Skype is closing down, with Microsoft announcing the service will be shut down in May. Founded in 2003, Skype became a household name, attracting hundreds of millions of users at its peak.
However, Microsoft has confirmed it will retire the two-decade-old internet calling service on May 5, encouraging people to migrate to Teams instead. According to tech experts, the platform faced challenges in recent years in keeping pace with easier-to-use and more reliable rivals such as Zoom and Salesforce’s Slack.
Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion after outbidding Google and Facebook, the largest deal for the company at the time. The service had approximately 150 million monthly users when it was purchased. By 2020, the user number had fallen to roughly 23 million, despite a brief resurgence during the pandemic.
Jeff Teper, President of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, told CNBC, “We’ve learned a lot from Skype over the years that we’ve put into Teams as we’ve evolved Teams over the last seven to eight years. But we felt like now is the time because we can be simpler for the market, for our customer base, and we can deliver more innovation faster just by being focused on Teams.”
Skype joins a series of large Microsoft investments that have been closed down, including the Internet Explorer web browser and Windows Phone. Other major tech companies have also experienced difficulties with online communication tools, with Google making several attempts with apps like Hangouts and Duo.
Teper added, “This is obviously a big, big moment for us, and we’re certainly very grateful in many ways. Skype pioneered audio and video calling on the web for many, many people. I think a good write-up of the history of the thing would mark the shift to mobile and cloud as a significant change in the communications category.”
Microsoft said Skype users will be able to log into Teams for free on any supported device using their current credentials, with chats and contacts automatically migrating. Amit Fulay, Microsoft VP of product, stated to TechCrunch, “We wanted to make sure that during this transition, people aren’t losing their contacts, their memories. We want to make sure we preserve all the things people have shared. And if they choose to come to Teams, we’ll restore all of their contacts and data.”
