Microsoft Will Shut Down Skype After 21 Years: Here Is What You Should Know
Skype, which for two decades connected people worldwide, will shut down after two decades. Microsoft has confirmed the official date for the shutdown of the popular video-calling app is May 5, 2025. There will be no access to Skype accounts after that date. Skype’s successor is
Microsoft Teams, which is being recommended by the company to its users.
What Has Sparked Microsoft To Shut Down Skype?
Skype was once dominant in internet calls. Since its inception in 2003, it managed free voice and video calls when other telecommunication companies were charging heavily for international calls. Such high popularity led to Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype in 2011 at $8.5 billion and later integrated into services like Outlook, Xbox, and Windows.
But as time passed, Skype started lagging in the competition as other apps such as Zoom, WhatsApp, FaceTime, and even Team nabbed a larger share of the market. Some of the reasons that eventually contributed to Skype’s downfall were:
Slow Updates: While its competitors updated their technology quite fast, Skype was always behind.
- Confusing Redesigns: Changes in design often irritate users rather than making things easier.
- Changing Market Favor: Companies started to use newer workplace applications like Slack and Teams for collaboration.
- Change in Focus: Microsoft favored Teams instead of Skype and began its slow phase-out.
By 2020, Skype had already lost its top spot in video calling; now, Microsoft has completely decided to discontinue it.
What Is Going To Happen to Users of Skype?
Microsoft has assured Skype users that their chats, contacts, and conversations will be migrated to Microsoft Teams (Free), which comes with similar features as Skype and better tools for modern communication.
This means that any remaining Skype users still have some time to migrate to Teams before May 2025. A smooth transition is assured by Microsoft so that no important chats or contacts are lost in the process.
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