Published: 07 May 2025

Microsoft has officially pulled the plug on Skype, the once-dominant voice and video calling platform, and is now steering users toward its workplace collaboration platform, Microsoft Teams.

The company's decision to sunset Skype was first leaked in February, when a member of the XDA Developers community discovered a reference to the shutdown in preview code. Microsoft later confirmed the move, signalling the end of a platform that revolutionised global communication.

"Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications and supporting countless meaningful moments," said Jeff Teper, President of Microsoft's collaborative apps and platforms. "We are honoured to have been part of the journey."

Launched in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, with core development by a team of Estonian engineers, Skype broke barriers by offering free or low-cost international voice and video calls over the internet - a radical innovation at the time.

It quickly grew into a global household name, replacing expensive international calls and giving rise to the phrase, "Skype me."

However, Skype's dominance began to erode due to a string of missteps and an inability to adapt to fast-moving competition. Services like Zoom, Slack, and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram addressed pain points that Skype failed to fix — such as missed calls, poor syncing, and clunky user interfaces.

Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, marking its largest acquisition at the time under then-CEO Steve Ballmer. It replaced Windows Live Messenger and was bundled with Windows 8.1, becoming Microsoft's flagship consumer messaging tool.

Yet the integration into Microsoft's bureaucracy and its Office division led to feature bloat — including emojis and GIFs — that alienated both business users and serious communicators. Reliability issues and frequent redesigns further frustrated longtime users.

In 2017, Microsoft shifted its focus to Teams, a robust collaboration platform aimed at businesses, and began phasing out Skype for Business. The final decision to retire Skype altogether comes as Teams has surged in popularity, especially in enterprise environments and increasingly among individual users.

"Teams is going well and this is a step to double down on it," Teper said. "It's the most successful product in its category by far."

Skype's retirement also mirrors broader industry trends. Amazon recently announced the shutdown of Chime, while Google has rebranded and relaunched multiple messaging platforms over the years.

Skype's story is now one of many cautionary tales in the tech world — much like BlackBerry, Nokia, and Internet Explorer — where early dominance gave way to missed opportunities and more agile rivals.

Still, its impact is undeniable. For nearly two decades, Skype kept families, friends, and colleagues connected across the globe — often for free — long before video calling became standard.

As Microsoft Teams takes over, the end of Skype marks the close of a chapter in internet history, one that helped shape how the world communicates today.
- mybroadband