Farewell to Skype

Microsoft announced it will retire the once-popular video-calling app Skype in May and focus on its flagship Teams service. 

Skype was considered a pioneer in how people communicated online across borders before competition exploded from platforms like FaceTime, WhatsApp, Slack, and Zoom. 

Microsoft is replacing it with the free version of Microsoft Teams for consumers. Existing Skype users will be able to log in to the Microsoft Teams app and have their message history, group chats, and contacts all automatically available without having to create another account, or they can choose to export their data instead. Microsoft is also phasing out support for calling domestic or international numbers.

Skype Timeline

• Founded in 2003 by a group of Nordic engineers
• reached 10 million users quickly
• 2005 eBay acquired it for $2.6B
• 2009, a consortium of investors bought a 65% stake in Skype for $1.9B, valuing the business at nearly $3B
• 2011 Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5B (their largest acquisition at the time) to replace its Windows Live Messenger
• 2016, Skype peaks at around 300 million monthly users
• 2023, the number of users had dropped to roughly 36 million

More at theverge.com/news/621353/microsoft-skype-shutting-down-retirement-may-2025