Skype, the pioneer of internet calling, is set to shut down on May 5 after 23 years of operation. Microsoft, which acquired Skype 14 years ago, is retiring the service to concentrate on its collaboration platform, Teams. The decline in Skype's user base, from a peak of 300 million to 36 million, coincides with Microsoft's strategic shift initiated in 2016. Users are encouraged to migrate to Teams, with options to transfer contacts or export their data before the closure.
"We know this is a big deal for our Skype users, and we're very grateful for their support of Skype and all the learnings that have factored into Teams over the last seven years," Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative Apps and platforms, told TechCrunch in an interview this week.
"At this point, putting all our focus behind Teams will let us give a simpler message and drive faster innovation."
The news will come as little surprise to those who have followed Skype in recent years; and in many ways, the writing has been on the wall since 2016, when Microsoft debuted Teams.
While Microsoft had launched a specific Skype for Business product in 2015, Teams' arrival signalled a new direction for Microsoft in the cloud communications space.
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