Skype: Microsoft shut down Skype, why did it take such a big decision?

Microsoft has announced that shut down its popular video calling app Skype forever on 5 May 2025. This decision has been taken due to many reasons, including competition, changes in technology, and the company's policy priority. Read the full story behind it here. After this, you will be able to know better how and why the company took such a big decision in one go.

What is the history of Skype?

Skype was started in Estonia in 2003. It provided free voice and video calling through the Internet. It was a revolutionary step at that time. In 2005, eBay bought it for $2.6 billion (about Rs 22 thousand crores), and in 2011, Microsoft bought it for $8.5 billion (about Rs 7100 crores). At that time, Skype had about 150 million monthly users. But over time, its popularity declined. By 2020, the number of Skype users decreased to about 23 million.

Competition and technological changes

Skype now had to compete with platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms are more user-friendly and come with better features. Skype was specially designed for the desktop. Now, in the era of smartphones, it was not of much use. Apart from this, the development of new features in Skype was very slow. Due to this users started turning towards other platforms.

Microsoft's policy: Focus on Teams

Microsoft has created a platform called Teams where people can talk to each other, make video calls, work together, and also share important files or information easily. All this can be done in one place. Skype offers most of the features and tools like meeting hosting, calendar management, and community features. Therefore, the company decided to shut down Skype and focus on Teams.

Users have two options

Migrate to Microsoft Teams: Users can log in to Teams using their existing Skype credentials. This will automatically transfer their Skype chats, contacts and conversations to Teams.

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