Fri Feb 28 15:52:28 UTC 2025: ## Skype to be Retired by Microsoft After 22 Years
**San Francisco, February 28, 2025** – Microsoft announced the retirement of Skype, its pioneering online voice and video call service, after a 22-year run. The service, acquired by Microsoft in 2011, will be shut down in May 2025. Users are being directed to Microsoft Teams as a replacement platform.
Skype, founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, revolutionized internet communication with its free peer-to-peer voice calls and affordable landline/mobile connections. Its rapid growth saw it reach 50 million users by 2005. While initially acquired by eBay for $2.6 billion, it eventually found its home at Microsoft.
However, in recent years, Skype faced stiff competition from rivals like WhatsApp and Zoom, as well as Microsoft’s own Teams platform. Microsoft’s Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, stated that consolidating services onto Teams would streamline operations and accelerate innovation. The company cited the need for market simplification and faster innovation as reasons for the decision. Skype’s peer-to-peer architecture, a key innovation in its early years, was ultimately unable to sustain its position in the evolving landscape of online communication.
First Piper 