Microsoft announced the final closure of Skype from May 2025, turning the page of one of the first internet telephony platforms, launched in 2003. The group invites users to migrate to Microsoft Teams, enriched service launched in 2017.
Microsoft will close the Skype platform this May 5, pioneer of calls by internet in the early 2000s, today exceeded by the generalization of this technology and the emergence of other services such as Zoom, according to a message from the group published on X.
u2601ufe0f Skype is retiring in May 2025, and we want to make sure you have enough time to make a decision. If you see your friends already using Microsoft Teams Free it’s a good time to give it a go. You can also export your data if you do not wish to make the move.
u2753 If you have… pic.twitter.com/InR34mCc5d
— Skype (@Skype) https://twitter.com/Skype/status/1915381113637269757?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Founded by Scandinavian entrepreneurs, Skype was bought in 2011 by the American software giant for $ 8.5 billion.
“From May 2025, Skype will no longer be available”announces the group in a message on its X account. “In the coming days, you can register on the free version of Microsoft Teams with your Skype account to stay connected to your conversations and your contacts”specifies the group.
How did the platform work?
Put online in 2003, the service has democratized the so -called IP (Internet Protocol) phone, which allows you to scan the voice, thus offering the possibility of making a call via a computer.
Another advantage is to call another Skype account holder was free. IP telephony has indeed dropped the cost of a call compared to conventional telephony. In 2005, Skype introduced video calls, opening up a new era.
-The same year, the group was bought, for $ 2.6 billion, by the Ebay online sales platform, which will give it four years later to a consortium led by the Silver Lake Partners. The latter will then sell it to Microsoft.
In 2016, Skype had around 300 million users, but the rise of many competitors stopped its growth.
May 5, 2025, is the official last day for the Skype app. Microsoft has announced that Skype will be retired on this date, marking the end of its 22 year run since its launch in 2003 ….
I remember Skype was the first app I used back in 2009 to make video calls to my family such… pic.twitter.com/I1HtS49UwA— Mehreen ? (@mehri0o) https://twitter.com/mehri0o/status/1919018269668692359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As early as 2010, Apple had placed on the market Facetime, an application allowing free audio and video calls to be made. Integrated into the Apple ecosystem, it quickly achieved success.
In 2015, a few months after its acquisition by Facebook (now Meta), the application of WhatsApp messaging adds telephone calls to its application.
Teams launched in 2017
In early 2017, the owner of Skype, Microsoft, launched Teams, a richer version which offered professionals a written discussion space, documents sharing and videoconferencing.
At the same time, Google put the Google Meet video communication service online. The Pandemic of Covid-19 then catapulted on the front of the stage, in the spring of 2020, the start-up Zoom.
