The human race went from smoke signals, buzzing Morse code through long wires, SMS, then sending each other’s faces through the air and glass cables under the ocean. What a time to be alive! The internet furiously thrusts the human race into progress, whether it be positive or negative.
All the companies and services that fell along the way are not as alive; one of these is soon to be the “S” in a blue bubble— Skype. Once the leading tool for voice and video calls over the internet, the service was launched in 2003. If you needed to talk to someone over long distances without paying pesky long-distance fees, this was the solution. It was even one of the first to usher in screen sharing.
In 2005, Skype had 74.7 million registered users and 10.8 million concurrent users. eBay tried and failed to buy it for USD$2.6 billion (approximately RM11.5 billion), which then fell into the hands of Silver Lake, an investment group that purchased a majority stake. By 2008, the user base had expanded significantly to 405 million registered users and 36.5 million concurrent users. Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype in 2011 for USD$8.5 billion (approximately RM37.7 billion) aimed to integrate its capabilities into Microsoft’s ecosystem.
However, the communication landscape evolved rapidly with the emergence of competitors like Apple’s FaceTime and Meta’s WhatsApp. Microsoft’s introduction of Teams in 2017 further shifted focus. During the COVID-19 pandemic, platforms like Zoom grew 1,990%, and Teams saw 894% growth, while Skype’s growth was comparatively modest. It was brewing in the background, but competition and neglect were building.
There was some effort in clawing back attention; from 2022 to 2023, the AI boom was in full swing, and companies had yet to grasp the potential of adding AI to everything from washing machines to virtual girlfriends. Not to be left out, Skype received live language translation in video calls, which can be tuned to sound like the original user’s voice, and the multilingual Bing Bot, which users could talk to for fun.
Ultimately, the decision of the bubbly video call platform’s retirement is Microsoft consolidating communication services under their Teams platform, their new favourite child. This deliberate effort has seen it reach 320 million monthly active users by April 2024. The way they see it, retiring Skype was “a big big moment” for Microsoft, which is typical of the Silicon Valley neglecting something and replacing it with the same thing, but different. This leaves the most loyal users looking for alternatives in its slow, inevitable death.
Sources: CNBC, GeekWire, PCWorld
Gan contributed to this article.
