Egypt Daily News – Microsoft has announced that the Skype application will be discontinued in May.
In a statement reported by CNBC on Friday, the company confirmed that the 21-year-old communication and messaging service will officially shut down on May 5. The software giant is encouraging Skype users to transition to the free Microsoft Teams app.
Skype gained popularity in the early 2000s for allowing people to communicate without paying phone service providers. However, it struggled in the mobile era and did not experience a major resurgence during the pandemic.
Many users have since forgotten about Skype due to the availability of numerous alternative chat and calling platforms. Jeff Teper, Head of Microsoft 365 Apps and Platforms, stated, “We felt it was time for a change, as we can simplify things for the market and our customer base while driving innovation faster by focusing on development.”
Skype was founded in 2003 before being bought by Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011, the biggest acquisition in the company’s history at the time.
Since its acquisition, Microsoft has tried to revive Skype by experimenting and rolling out new features like Skype Clips and even integrating Copilot AI last year. But after the company failed to popularise the service during the Covid 19 pandemic, the platform has remained largely neglected. Microsoft, however, did use Skype to build Teams, its new service designed to ease communication for enterprises.
