Microsoft announced on Friday that it will retire Skype, the groundbreaking voice and video call service it acquired in 2011. The company stated that Skype will no longer be available starting May 2025, and users are encouraged to transition to Microsoft’s Teams platform for continued service.
Founded in 2003 by Scandinavians Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis in Estonia, Skype revolutionized internet communication by offering free voice calls between computers and affordable rates for calls to landlines and mobile phones. As internet speeds improved, Skype expanded to include video calls, instant messaging, file sharing, and group communication features.
By 2005, Skype had already reached 50 million registered users, demonstrating its rapid global growth. Later that year, online auction site eBay acquired Skype for approximately $2.6 billion. However, the expected synergies did not materialize, and in 2009, eBay sold a majority stake to a group of investors, who subsequently sold it to Microsoft.
In recent years, Skype struggled to maintain its position in the face of competition from new rivals like Meta-owned WhatsApp, Zoom, and even Microsoft’s own Teams, especially with the rise of smartphones.
“We’ve learned a lot from Skype… as we’ve evolved Teams over the last seven to eight years,” said Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms. “But we felt like now is the time because we can simplify the market for our customers and deliver more innovation faster by focusing on Teams.”
Microsoft confirmed that Skype’s group chats will remain intact as users transition to Teams, and for a 60-day window, messages will be interoperable between Skype and Teams. This means users can message contacts on Teams, and the messages will be delivered to those still using Skype.
One of the biggest changes is the removal of Skype’s telephony features, meaning users will no longer be able to call regular phone numbers, mobile phones, or make international calls through the service. Microsoft explained that these features are becoming less relevant in today’s communication landscape, where mobile data plans have become more affordable.
The name “Skype” originated from “Sky peer-to-peer,” reflecting the technology that powered its original architecture. This peer-to-peer approach distributed network demands across users’ computers instead of relying solely on centralized servers, which was a key innovation that enabled Skype’s rapid growth in its early years.
