Skype is shutting down after two decades

Microsoft is shutting down Skype in May. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto/Shutterstock via CNN Newsource)

Microsoft is shutting down Skype, the internet-based phone and video service that was once the dominant way of staying connected in the mid 2000s.

Skype will “no longer be available” to use starting in May, the company confirmed on X, telling users that their log-in information can be used on Microsoft Teams’ free tier in the “coming days.”

Skype’s shutdown comes 14 years after Microsoft bought the service for US$8.5 billion in cash, marking the company’s largest ever acquisition at the time. Microsoft integrated the service into its other products, such as Office and it’s ill-fated mobile operating service Windows Phone.

Skype’s popularity has faded in recent years, despite a pandemic bounce that lifted other competing products, including Zoom, Google Meet and Cisco WebEx. Skype has also faced increased competition over the last decade and a half from apps like Apple’s FaceTime and Meta’s WhatsApp. Plus, Microsoft has been investing heavily in Teams, which offers many of the same services.

Skype launched in 2003 in Estonia and quickly caught on as a way to make free calls worldwide, a notable perk considering international calling on traditional phones used to be expensive. The service quickly became popular, leading eBay to buy it in 2005 for $2.6 billion. However, the partnership did not work out, and eBay sold its 65 per cent stake in Skype to an investor group for $1.9 billion in 2009 before Microsoft bought it in 2011.

Microsoft didn’t immediately return CNN’s request for comment