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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,…
