LNP – Microsoft to shut down Skype in May this year: Report

Skype, the video calling platform that made headlines in the early 2000s, may finally be shutting down. While the service isn’t as popular as it used to be, Microsoft claims that more than 36 million people used Skype daily to connect with their friends, family and colleagues.

The news comes from XDA, according to which the latest version of Skype preview includes a hidden string of text that says “Starting in May, Skype will no longer be available, Continue your calls and chats in Teams.” The publication also states that this was followed by a message saying a certain number “of your friends have already moved to Teams free.”

Microsoft is yet to officially make the announcement, but in the last few months, the Redmond-based company has been hinting that it is not interested in Skype anymore. In December last year, Microsoft stopped selling credits for Skype numbers, which allowed users to make calls to anyone in any location.

First launched in 2003, Skype had emerged as one of the most popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) platforms of all time, and was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for a whopping $8.5 billion. Since then, the tech giant has redesigned Skype a couple of times to take on iMessage and tried to integrate it with its in-house products like Windows, the now discontinued Windows phones, and Xbox.

In the last few years, Microsoft has been trying 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, it has been largely neglected. Microsoft, however, did use Skype to build Teams, its new service designed to ease communication for enterprises.