Skype shutdown: Microsoft’s billion-dollar bet fails to keep pace

Microsoft will retire Skype by May 2025, marking the end of a service that once dominated online communication. The decision reflects changing user preferences and competition from other platforms.

Rise and acquisitions

• Launched in 2003, Skype quickly gained traction with free voice calls over the internet.
• By 2005, it had 50 million users.
• eBay acquired it for $2.6 billion but failed to integrate it.
• A consortium including Andreessen Horowitz and technology investor Silver Lake took over Skype in 2009.
• In 2011, Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion,…