06-05-2025
Microsoft scraps video call service Skype after years of declining popularity
Most millennials remember their first Skye account, after it first launched in 2003.
But it will soon become a distant memory for former users, after Microsoft scrapped the once-popular video call service.
At the height of its popularity, Skype had 300 million users. However, it has since been overtaken by rivals like Zoom and WhatsApp, which younger users have gravitated towards.
Microsoft pulled the plug on Skype on May 5, US time, 15 years after it was purchased for $US8.5 billion ($A13 billion).
The tech giant revealed in February it would be retiring the service in order to 'streamline free consumer communications'.
The Washington-based company is looking to migrate remaining Skype users to Microsoft Teams.
Skype For Business, a separate service, will remain functional.
'The timing of this shift is driven by the significant advancements and adoption of Microsoft Teams,' Microsoft said on April 29.
'In the past two years, the number of minutes spent in meetings by consumer users of Teams has grown 4X.
'And Teams free offers many of the same core features as Skype: 1:1 calls, group calls, messaging, and file sharing, as well as enhanced features like hosting meetings, managing calendars, and building and joining communities — all for free.
'By consolidating our efforts to focus on Teams, we can provide the best possible communication and collaboration experience.'
A number of X, formerly Twitter, users posted their upset at the end of Skype.
'RIP Skype — from being the way we said 'hello' in long-distance love to becoming a ghost in the Teams machine. End of an era for the OG video calls,' one user wrote.
'Before there was Teams or Discord, it was Skype. RIP,' another added.
'I have vibrant memories of video calling relatives who were abroad and sometimes even friends who lived down the street. Another online legend goes into the history books. RIP Skype,' another wrote.
