Microsoft is shutting down Skype after a 21-year run. Here's how it lost out to video call rivals
Skype is among the world's most long-lasting digital brands. But other mobile apps took off faster, and Skype didn't see the Covid bump that Zoom did.
Skype is logging off.
On Friday, Microsoft announced that the 21-year-old calling and messaging service will shut down May 5. The software company is encouraging Skype users to migrate to its free Teams app.
Skype won attention in the 2000s for giving people a way to talk without paying the phone company, but stumbled in the mobile era and didn't enjoy a major resurgence during the pandemic. Some people have forgotten that it's still available, given the many other options for chatting and calling.
"We've learned a lot from Skype over the years that we've put into Teams as we've evolved teams over the last seven to eight years," Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, said in an interview with CNBC. "But we felt like now is the time because we can be simpler for the market, for our customer base, and we can deliver more innovation faster just by being focused on Teams."
Over the next few days, Microsoft will start allowing people to sign in to Teams with Skype credentials, and Skype contacts and chats will transfer over, according to a blog post. People can also export their Skype data. The company will stop selling monthly Skype subscriptions, and users with credits can keep using them in Teams.