Microsoft to bring an end to Skype
Skype, a once insanely popular videoconferencing app, seems to be nearing its end. As discovered by an XDA Developers reader, Microsoft plans on discontinuing the app in May 2025. The news comes by way of a note found in the code of a developer build of Skype:
For a certain period, Skype (launched in 2003) was a very popular platform for voice and video calls. Many users were praising such features as a file sharing. Microsoft decided to fork out $8.5 billion for Skype in 2011, aiming to make it a key element of its communication ecosystem. Microsoft bet big on its latest purchase's success, discontinuing Windows Live Messenger sometime afterwards.
Due to approach inconsistencies and a lack of vision, Microsoft missed the chance to transform Skype into the leading communication/entertainment platform. When Windows 10 integration was attempted as a way to boost Skype's shrinking user base, the app was already behind competitors like Apple FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Slack. Eventually, the company changed its mind and brought back the standard app version for Windows 10 instead of the UWP package in 2016.
In 2017, Microsoft switched its attention to Teams - a new platform based on Skype technologies. The concept shift is clear from the name, as the company presents it as a team collaboration solution. Microsoft has demonstrated confidence in its new platform by integrating the product facing strong competition from Slack directly into Windows 11 from the very first day of the operating system's mass market lifecycle.
Microsoft has not yet made an official statement, but it appears 2025 may indeed be the year when Skype's 20+ year history comes to an end.
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