Kelly Harris, San Jose, is inclined to kiss the webcam while saying his goodbye to Brian Johnson, his brother parked in Japan, at the end of his video call through Skype in San Jose, California, on November 25, 2009.
Lea Suzuki | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst newspapers | Pictures of getty
Skype is starting.
On Friday, Microsoft He announced that the 21 -year -old call and messaging service will close on May 5. The software company encourages Skype users to migrate to their free team app.
Skype gained attention in the 2000’s to give people a way of speaking without paying the telephone company, but he encountered the mobile age and did not enjoy a significant resurgence during pandemic. Some people have forgotten that it is still available, considering the many other options for chatting and calling.
« We have learned a lot of Skype over the years we have put in teams, as we have evolved teams for the last seven to eight years, » said Jeff Teper, President of Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps and Platforms, in an interview with CNBC. « But we felt like we are now the time because we can be simpler for the market, for our customer base, and we can offer more innovation faster only by focusing on teams. »
In the coming days, Microsoft will begin to allow people to sign up for teams with Skype credentials and Skype contacts And the chats will be transferred, according to a blog publication. People can also export their skype data. The company will stop selling monthly Skype subscriptions and users with credits can continue to use them in equipment.
« This is obviously a great time for us and we are certainly grateful in many ways, » said Teper. « Skype was a pioneer in audio and video calling the net for many, many people. »
It is one of the most lasting digital brands.
In 2003, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, who formerly co-founded the Peer-to-Peer Kazaa file sharing program, launched Skype in Estonia with the help of a band of ancient classmates with zero experience in telecommunications. Originally Skype was a tool for people to call online for free. The peculiar name was for « Sky Peer to Peer », a reference to the underlying voice of service on the Internet protocol or Voip’s architecture.
Skype took quickly. In 2004, there were 11 million registered users. At the moment eBay announced a Plan to buy Skype Technologies SA for $ 2.6 billion in 2005, the user count had reached 54 million and Skype provided $ 60 million in annual income, thanks to the payments of those who wanted to call mobile and fixed phones.
Meg Whitman, CEO of Ebay, at the time, imagined that Skype would help people to complete sales of products, especially expensive, connecting buyers and sellers. And eBay could charge additional for these calls. Skype users around the world could discover eBay and PaypalAlso. The agreement was completed 29 days later.
In this image of the company provided by Ebay, the company’s president and CEO, Meg Whitman, on the left, he stands with Niklas Zennstrom, co -founder and CEO of Skype, the Global Internet Communication Communication Company, in London on September 12, 2005. The Ebay Internet Company announced its intention today to acquire Skype, a voice over $ 2.6 billion.
Sergio Dionisio | eBay | Pictures of getty
Under Ebay, Skype’s user number grew, crossing 405 million in 2008, and communications income increased. But Whitman left the office of CEO, giving way to the ex -Bain’s executive, John Donahoe, who did not believe that Ebay’s main business was benefited from Skype’s transaction.
In 2009, the economy was in recession, eBay sales growth had turned negative and the price of shares was lower than it had been since 2001. statement which gave the shooting of a skype app for Apple The iPhone, Donahoe, announced that Ebay would launch an initial Skype public offer as part of a separation.
But eBay never presented an OIP Skype. Four and a half months after declaring IPO strategy, eBay said he had came to an agreement Sell Skype to a group of investors led by Silver Lake in an agreement worth $ 2.75 million. The online auction operator received a 30% participation in Skype buyer. Under the investor group, Skype presented an OIP, but it did not happen either. Microsoft ended acquiring Skype In 2011 for $ 8.5 billion, eBay received more than $ 2 billion.
« Microsoft and Skype together will bring together hundreds of millions or, as Tony said, billions of consumers and will train them to communicate in new and interesting ways, » said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. press conferenceReferring to the comments above to the event of Skype leader Tony Bates. At that time, 170 million people used Skype each month. Ballmer aimed to integrate Skype with various Microsoft products, including Lync, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Phone and Xbox Videoje Game Game. Microsoft also got Skype to work on its Azure Cloud infrastructure.
Skype failed to accumulate a billion active users.
Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, on the left, shakes Tony Bates, CEO of Skype, during a press conference on May 10, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Microsoft has agreed to buy Skype for $ 8.5 billion.
Justin Sullivan | Pictures of getty
Apple Imessage and Native Facetime collected traction on iOS devices. In 2014, Facebook He bought whatsapp, a mobile messaging app and months later, users obtained the opportunity to make calls on the borders. WhatsApp took off worldwide. So did the Wechat de Tencent.
Skype meanwhile implemented multiple redesign and faced criticism of devotees. In 2016, Microsoft Introduced teams As a different « Chat Work Space » for organizations with productivity software subscriptions that would compete with Slack, which at that time was an emerging startup.
When Covid came and pushed people to work and study from home, Zoomoriginally conceived for business use, became a The consumer’s favorite To retain video calls. People could also connect to video through services of CiscoFacebook and Google. Skype saw a blow, but Microsoft put important engineering resources behind teams, governments and schools and the investment paid off. The analysts began to concentrate on the number of teams of teams that Microsoft would reveal, with the number of more than 320 million in 2023.
As for Skype, the current CEO of Microsoft, Satya NadellaHe has not mentioned it in a earnings call since 2017.
By 2023 Microsoft said Skype had 36 million Active daily users. This dropped out of 40 million in March 2020. TEPER refused to talk about how many people use the service today, but said that the number of minutes that consumers have spent on four -year call teams over the last two years.
« I think a good writing of the story of the thing would mark the change to mobile and the cloud as a significant change in the communications category, » said Teper.
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