Microsoft waves goodbye to once-popular video call service Skype

Skype, the formerly widely-used video calling platform that ruled the online communication sector, ended its services on Monday after over two decades. The tech behemoth Microsoft, which owns it, revealed the decision in February, urging Skype users to switch to its messaging platform Teams.

“As we say goodbye to Skype, we want to thank our incredible community. Over the years, you’ve connected with family, friends, and colleagues across the world,” the Skype team said in a post on the service’s official X page on Monday.

“This isn’t the end-it’s a new beginning. Join us on Microsoft Teams Free and continue making great memories.”

The service will no longer be available starting Tuesday.

Skype was established in Luxembourg in 2003 by Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and Danish entrepreneur Janus Friis. The service enabled a large number of people to make free voice and video calls online for the first time.

It gained significant popularity for global communication since it enabled users to bypass expensive phone charges, which had been unavoidable up to that point.

At its height, Skype boasted several hundred million users globally each month. As per the Similarweb analytics platform, the user count has since decreased to approximately 30 million each month.

Skype users were able to call not just other Skype users, but also reach landline and mobile phone numbers. This feature required a Skype credit or a subscription. In 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 billion and incorporated it into its ecosystem, which includes Windows and Office.

Even with this integration, Skype has fallen behind rivals like Zoom and WhatsApp. However, Microsoft Teams, released in 2017, has now become a prominent contender in the collaboration software industry and holds a key position in business communications.