On the agenda…

Where did it all go wrong for Skype? The once all-conquering video calling service will be shut down on 5 May, as owner Microsoft pulls the plug on the failing business after two decades.

Microsoft, which acquired Skype in 2011, will encourage existing Skype users to move to its homegrown Teams platform, which became the company’s focus around the time of the pandemic. While Skype has been tearfully taken back around the shed and put out of its misery at last, the collapse of the platform has felt inevitable for some time. Its failure is one of both poor management and a confusing marketing strategy.

Skype stormed onto the market in the noughties with its revolutionary product offer of free audio and video calls over the internet, beating the same capabilities in smartphones by many years. The service became so synonymous with video calling that it became a verb in its own right; to ‘Skype’ someone. Most brands would kill to be so tied to their category and for their product offer to be considered so unique that they become a verb. It’s a remarkable position of power to be in.