After 23 years of revolutionizing internet-based communication, Microsoft has announced that it will be retiring Skype, its popular messaging and calling app, on May 5. The tech giant will instead focus on Microsoft Teams, its cloud-based collaboration platform, which has seen significant growth in recent years.

The decision comes as no surprise, given Microsoft's efforts to phase out Skype for Business since 2017. The company had also stopped allowing users to add credit to their accounts or buy Skype phone numbers in December 2024, pushing users towards monthly subscriptions and Skype-to-phone plans.

According to Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative Apps and platforms, the company wants to provide a simpler message and drive faster innovation by focusing on Teams. "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," Teper said in an interview.

Skype users have 10 weeks to decide what they want to do with their accounts. They can migrate their contacts and chat data to Microsoft Teams, or download their Skype data using the app's built-in export tool. However, it's unclear how many users will be impacted, as Microsoft hasn't released recent user numbers. The most recent update was in 2023, when the company revealed that Skype had more than 36 million daily users.

The rise of smartphones and new messaging apps has taken a toll on Skype's user count over the years. At its peak in 2013, Skype had 300 million users, but that number has been declining steadily. In contrast, WhatsApp has surpassed 2 billion users, and Zoom has seen significant growth during the pandemic.

Microsoft is encouraging users to move to Teams Free, which offers additional features such as calendar integrations. However, Teams Free lacks phone-calling functionality, which was a hallmark of Skype. Users who still have credit in their accounts will be able to use a Skype Dial Pad in the Skype web portal and in Teams for an indefinite period.

The company believes that consumer trends have shifted, with people relying more on mobile data plans and less on traditional phone services. "We've been looking at usage of telephony for a while on Skype, and patterns have changed, usage has changed, and this is a step towards that," said Amit Fulay, Microsoft VP of product.

During the transition period, Skype users will be able to download the Teams app and log in with their Skype credentials, with all their chats and contacts migrating over automatically. If a user takes no action by May 5, Skype says it will retain user data until the end of the year, after which it will be deleted.

The blurring of lines between the business and consumer realms is a significant takeaway from this announcement. Skype began as a consumer product that spread into the business sphere, while Teams began as a business product that segued into consumer use. Teper doesn't see this as a problem, citing the success of other Microsoft products such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which are used in both personal and work life.

As Microsoft focuses on Teams, it remains to be seen how users will adapt to the change. Will they make the transition to Teams, or will they seek alternative communication platforms? Only time will tell.