Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that it was preparing to retire Skype. The messaging and calling app has existed since 2003, but Microsoft acquired the platform 14 years ago.
Today, on May 5, Microsoft is pulling the plug on Skype as it officially retires the app. While speaking to TechCrunch, Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative Apps and platforms, indicated:
“We know this is a big deal for our Skype users, and we’re very grateful for their support of Skype and all the learnings that have factored into Teams over the last seven years. At this point, putting all our focus behind Teams will let us give a simpler message and drive faster innovation.”
As expected, Microsoft has been doubling its efforts on Teams and urging users to transition. Additionally, the company allowed users to export their Skype chats to Teams to make the transition more seamless.
While it remains unclear exactly how many people will be impacted by Skype shutting down, Microsoft's data from 2023 shows that the platform had over 36 million users. In comparison, Microsoft Teams surpassed 320 million active monthly users worldwide around the same time.
This move could be a bid by the tech giant to drive more users to Microsoft Teams and increase its user base. As you may know, Microsoft launched a new app for Teams, which is twice as fast and consumes 50% less disk space than the previous build.
To that end, it's unclear whether users will be eager to transition to Teams, especially in the new era of communication and the vast availability of messaging and video calling platforms like Zoom, WhatsApp, and countless more.
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