Microsoft to Shut Down Skype in May, Integrating Services into Teams

Microsoft has announced that it will officially retire Skype in May 2025, marking the end of an era for the pioneering video-calling service. The company, which acquired Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011, will transition users to its flagship communication platform, Microsoft Teams. Existing Skype users will be able to log into Teams with their current accounts.

For years, Microsoft has prioritized Teams over Skype, positioning it as the go-to solution for workplace communication. This decision to phase out Skype reflects the company’s strategy to streamline its services in an increasingly competitive market.

A Revolutionary Platform

Skype was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers in Tallinn, Estonia. It revolutionized communication by allowing people to make voice calls over the internet using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. The service gained popularity for its ability to bypass expensive international phone charges, making long-distance conversations more accessible to individuals and businesses alike.

“You no longer had to be a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company to have high-quality video calls,” said Barbara Larson, a management professor at Northeastern University specializing in remote work history. “It brought people across the world closer together.”

In 2005, eBay acquired Skype and later introduced video calling, further enhancing its appeal. By 2011, when Microsoft took over, Skype had around 170 million users globally. At the time, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hailed Skype as a game-changer, saying its name had become synonymous with video and voice communication.

The Rise of Teams and the Decline of Skype

Skype remained a widely used tool for years, even making its way into the White House press briefings in 2017 under President Donald Trump’s administration. However, just a month after that, Microsoft launched Teams in an effort to compete with emerging workplace chat platforms like Slack.

As remote work surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, services like Zoom and Teams saw exponential growth, while Skype gradually faded into the background. Though its influence declined, Skype had already paved the way for a new era of digital communication.

“Higher-quality video calls have deepened relationships and made it easier to collaborate on complex problems,” Larson noted. “Skype’s biggest contribution was making this technology available to anyone with a decent internet connection.”

With Skype set to be discontinued, Microsoft Teams will carry forward its legacy, ensuring that the digital communication revolution it helped spark continues to evolve.