Internet Phone and Chat 'Skype' Service Ends in May

After 22 Years of Development...
Outpaced by Smartphones
MS Recommends Users Switch to Teams App

'Skype,' which caused a global sensation in the 2000s with its free phone call service, will end its service this May.

Microsoft (MS) announced on the 28th of last month (local time) that it will terminate the internet calling and messaging service Skype on May 5th. This marks 22 years since the Skype service began.

Skype

Skype was co-developed in August 2003 by Estonians Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstr?m. Skype is one of the longest-running digital brands and was a representative of digital calls that avoided expensive long-distance phone charges in the 2000s. In 2004, Skype had 11 million users, which surged nearly fivefold to 54 million in 2005, and by 2016, its monthly users exceeded 300 million.

Major corporations eagerly competed to acquire it, and in 2005, Skype was sold to eBay for $2.6 billion. Later, in September 2009, it was resold to an investment group led by Silver Lake for $2.75 billion, and in May 2011, MS became its new owner for $8.5 billion (12.4057 trillion KRW).

However, inexpensive internet calling services gradually lost their position due to the spread of smartphones and the emergence of mobile messenger services. Apple provided iMessage and FaceTime services that allowed free calls and messages between iPhones, and Facebook (now Meta), which acquired the mobile messenger service WhatsApp in 2014, added free international calling features.

MS also launched the Teams application as a collaboration tool for enterprises in 2016, which significantly reduced Skype users. Ultimately, the daily active users of Skype decreased from 40 million in 2020 to 36 million in 2023, and due to these changes over time, MS decided to end the service 14 years after acquisition.

MS recommended Skype users switch to its communication platform, the Teams app. It explained that within the next few days, users will be able to log in to Teams with their Skype accounts, and Skype contacts and chat history will be automatically transferred. Although the monthly Skype subscription service will be discontinued, any remaining balance will still be usable on Teams.