Official reason
Skype shutting down; users directed to Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft · Messaging
Skype (consumer)
RIP
2003–2025 · 22 years in market
The call that defined a decade of immigrants, gamers, and interview panels. Retired for Teams.
Launched
Aug 1, 2003
Discontinued
May 5, 2025
Cause of death
Replaced by successor
What actually happened
Consumer VoIP lost to free mobile data and Meet/FaceTime. Microsoft wanted one communications brand.
Lesson
A beloved consumer brand can still be sacrificed on the altar of a suite. Migration empathy is the whole launch.
Similar products that survived
Microsoft
Microsoft Teams
The designated heir, for better or worse.
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The browser that won the first war and lost the next three. Retired in favor of Chromium Edge.
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iChat
2002–2012 · 10 yrs
Bonjour and AIM bubbles on the Mac. Became Messages when iMessage needed a desktop home.
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