Skype "retires" after two decades - The platform will be replaced by the Microsoft Teams service
Skype will operate for the last time on May 5, as owner Microsoft is pulling the plug on the online calling service that redefined the way people connect across borders.
Closing Skype will help Microsoft focus on its Teams service, simplifying its communications offerings, the software giant said.
Founded in 2003, Skype's audio and video calling quickly disrupted the landline industry in the early 2000s and made the company a household name that boasted hundreds of millions of users at its peak. But the platform has struggled to compete with easier-to-use and more reliable rivals like Zoom and Salesforce's Slack.
The decline occurred in part because Skype's underlying technology was not suited to the smartphone era.
When the pandemic and working from home fueled the need for online business calls, Microsoft fought for Teams by integrating it with other Office apps to attract corporate users, once a large base for Skype.
To ease the transition from the platform, its users will be able to sign in to Teams for free on any device, using their existing credentials, with conversations and contacts automatically transferred.
With this, Skype will become the last mismanaged bet, after the Internet Explorer web browser and Windows Phone.
Other major tech firms have also struggled with online communication tools, with Google making some efforts through apps, including Hangouts and Duo.
Microsoft declined to share its latest user figures for Skype and said there would be no job cuts due to the move. It added that Teams has about 320 million monthly active users.
When Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, the largest deal at the time, the service had about 150 million monthly users. By 2020, that number had fallen to about 23 million, despite a brief resurgence during the pandemic.
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