Microsoft Is Shutting Down Skype To Focus on Its Teams Application

Skype is coming to an end. 

Microsoft (MSFT) on Friday announced it is shutting down the internet phone and chat service it bought in 2011 for $8.5 billion in favor of Teams, its home-grown voice, video, and chat service.

Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft’s Collaborative Apps and Platforms, wrote in a blog post that “the way we communicate has evolved significantly over the years.” He explained that the move away from Skype is being made “to streamline our free consumer communications offerings so we can more easily adapt to customer needs.”

Teper noted that beginning on May 5, Skype will no longer be available. The company is offering current users the ability to migrate to Teams for free, or they can export their data.

Skype was launched in 2003, and Microsoft’s acquisition in 2011 was at the time the biggest ever for the software giant.

The decision has had little impact on Microsoft shares, which were down about 0.2% midday Friday. They’re down about 4% over the past year.