Skype is shutting down, Microsoft says

Skype, the video-calling service that was once so popular it became a verb, is shutting down, Microsoft said Friday. 

Purchased by Microsoft in 2011, Skype was a pioneer in making telephone calls using the internet instead of landlines. 

Why is Skype shutting down? 

Big picture view:

The decision to fold Skype reflects Microsoft’s strategy to prioritize Teams and streamline its main communications app against competitors. 

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When is Skype shutting down? 

Timeline: Skype will retire in May and shift some of its services to Microsoft Teams, the company’s flagship videoconferencing and team applications platform. Skype users will be able to use their existing accounts to log into Teams.

What is Skype? 

The backstory:

Skype was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers in Tallinn, Estonia. It relied on VOIP, voice over internet protocol, technology that converts audio into a digital signal transmitted online. Skype added video calls after online retailer eBay bought the service in 2005.

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Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011. 

Why was Skype so popular? 

What they're saying:

"You no longer had to be a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company to have a good quality video call with someone else," said Barbara Larson, a management professor at Northeastern University who studies the history of virtual and remote work. "It brought a lot of people around the world closer."

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The ability to bypass expensive international phone calls to connect with far-flung coworkers was a boon for startups, but also people outside of the business world.

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"You could suddenly have long calls, frequent calls, that were either free or very inexpensive," Larson said. As with other new platforms, scammers also made use of it.

By the numbers:

Skype had about 170 million users worldwide in 2011, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in an event announcing the planned merger.

"The Skype brand has become a verb, nearly synonymous with video and voice communications," Ballmer said at the time.

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Skype was still considered high-tech in 2017 when Microsoft launched Teams, an attempt to catch up to the growing demand for workplace chatting services sparked by upstart rival Slack Technologies.

Slack and Teams, along with newer video platforms such as Zoom, saw explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies scrambled to shift to remote work, and even families and friends looked for new tools for virtual gatherings. Skype, by then, was already on the wane but had paved the way for strengthening the connections people can build remotely.