Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Microsoft officially shut down Skype on Monday, May 5, 2025, ending the internet-based voice and video calling service after 23 years in operation.
Skype’s shutdown comes 14 years after Microsoft acquired the service for $8.5 billion, marking the company’s largest acquisition at the time.
“As we say goodbye to Skype, we want to thank our incredible community,” Skype said in a farewell post on X. “For years, you connected with family, friends, and colleagues around the world.”
Launched in 2003 in Estonia, Skype was once a trailblazer in internet communication, offering free voice and video calls at a time when international phone rates were high.
It quickly gained a massive global following and was acquired by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion. However, the partnership faltered, and eBay offloaded a 65% stake to a private investor group for $1.9 billion in 2009. Microsoft later acquired Skype in 2011.
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Despite early dominance in the mid-2000s, the platform lost ground to competitors, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Cisco Webex surged in popularity.
Skype also faced growing pressure from Apple’s FaceTime and Meta’s WhatsApp, while Microsoft increasingly prioritized its enterprise-focused Teams platform.
Skype was integrated into Microsoft products like Office and the now-defunct Windows Phone, but its relevance continued to wane. In recent years, Microsoft funneled resources into Teams, which offers similar features and has become a central hub for workplace collaboration.
While the Skype platform is now offline, Microsoft is encouraging users to migrate their contacts and chat history to Microsoft Teams.
“This is not the end, it’s a new beginning. Join us on Microsoft Teams Free and continue making great memories,” the company said.
With its shut down, Skype will join the list of once-revolutionary tech platforms that eventually faded as new innovations took center stage.
(Raidi/Agung)
