Microsoft is shutting down Skype, the service that once helped put video calling on the map. The company announced on Friday it is retiring Skype in May as part of a broader effort to focus on Microsoft Teams, its conference call service, and to streamline its free consumer communications offerings.
The company said customers will have access to many of the same core features found in Skype, such as one-on-one and group calls, messaging and file-sharing, via its free Teams option. The free tier also offers features such as hosting meetings, managing calendars and building and joining communities.
“This is obviously big news for us and our customers,” Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps + Platforms, told CNET. “Skype did pave the way for audio video calling on the web, and we learned a lot from [it] that we reflected in Teams in the last seven years.”
He added: “We felt it was the right time to give our customers more simplicity and more innovation by really putting our focus behind Teams.”
From Skype to Teams
Skype, first released in 2003, played a major role in video and voice-over-IP calling, particularly in an era when international calls were costly. From long-distance chats with friends and families to virtual classroom field trips and media companies like CNN using it to remotely bring on guests, Skype played a major role in making the technology a part of daily lives. But its role in the market evolved as consumers shifted to mobile minutes or other video-calling solutions, such as Microsoft Teams and FaceTime.Â
Microsoft introduced Teams in 2017 as a hub for communication and collaboration with chats, calls and file-sharing. Its usage picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic, and so did the ways it was used. Notably, during NBA games, virtual fans – including Shaquille O’Neal and Barack Obama – were featured on displays via Teams technology.Â
Adoption continues to rise. The company said Teams now has four times the meeting minutes of consumer calls compared to two years ago.
Teper said the uptick in Teams usage over the past few years gave the company validation to make the change now. The company continues to add more features, such as emojis and filters.
What Skype users should do
Skype retains a fan base, according to Microsoft – likely those who’ve been using the 22-year-old service since the beginning. The company declined to share specifics about its user base.
Users will have the choice of exporting their data to retain their Skype call logs and chats or upgrading to Teams via the free offering. Users will still be able to log into their Skype account to see past calls and chats.
Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at market research firm Creative Strategies, said the move isn’t surprising, given Microsoft’s increasing focus on Teams.
“To be honest, I thought it might have happened sooner,” she told CNET. “From a consumer perspective, it feels like those still using Skype are doing so more out of habit than because it offers something particularly unique.”
‘The rotary phone of communications’
Whether Skype represents the end of an era may dependon the age of the person you ask.Â
“It almost feels like the rotary phone of communications, something younger generations wouldn’t know how to use,” Milanesi said. “It does mark the end of an era, though, in terms of how we communicate and the role that social media plays in messaging and calling.”
The move also aligns with Microsoft’s history of phasing out older technologies, such as the Windows Phone.
“As with the sunsetting of any technology platform, there will be groups of people who are saddened by this move,” said J. P. Gownder, an analyst at research firm Forrester. “But Skype’s heyday is in the past. This decision makes sense because the world Skype thrived in no longer exists.”