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Microsoft quietly axes Skype credit and phone number sales to push subscriptions
- Microsoft has removed the ability for users to top up accounts with credit and purchase Skype phone numbers. Instead, the platform is pushing subscriptions for its Skype-to-phone plans for a monthly fee, potentially affecting millions of people globally.
- The change was first spotted by a moderator on a Microsoft forum who responded to a user's complaint that they were unable to add credit to a Skype account.
- A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the company had permanently halted new sales of Skype credit and numbers but said existing numbers would still work and that existing credits could still be used, once every 180 days.
- Skype has been offering internet-based voice calls, video and file-sharing since it was founded in Luxembourg in 2003. It was acquired by eBay for $4.1bn, and sold to private buyers for $2.75bn four years later. In 2010, it had 124 million monthly users, of whom only 6% paid for premium services.
- Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5bn in 2011. The most recent figures Microsoft released for Skype last year said it had 36 million daily active users, whilst it's not clear how many active users Skype has today.
- Skype was once a trailblazer for the industry, but now Microsoft is pushing for Teams in competition with other communication apps like WhatsApp and Zoom.
- Skype still shows Credit and Skype numbers in some places on its online properties, but the sales of new Skype numbers and Skype credit are permanently stopped.
- It is estimated that the change impacts millions of people who used Skype for its phone functionality specifically.
- Skype was used by 100 million people each month, according to a statement by Microsoft last year.
- Despite the change, existing Skype phone numbers will continue to work whilst existing Skype credit can still be used, albeit with the usual stipulation that users must use their credit at least once in a 180-day period for it to remain active.
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