Microsoft announced its agreement to buy Skype for $8.5 billion in cash on May 10, 2011. For iPhone users, the story was about more than who owned a familiar calling app: it raised the question of how an independent communications service would fit inside a company with its own competing platforms.
Archive update: this newly researched article restores the subject of the original May 10, 2011 URL. It includes later developments and is not a reproduction of the missing original text.
The announcement and the completed deal
The original Microsoft announcement described an agreement with the investor group led by Silver Lake. It reported 170 million connected Skype users and more than 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010. Those figures describe Skype at that time; they are not current usage numbers.
There are two dates to keep separate. May 10 was the announcement of the agreement. Microsoft confirmed completion on October 13, 2011, when Skype became a Microsoft business division. Treating the announcement as the completed transaction obscures that distinction.
Why it mattered beyond Windows
Microsoft said it would connect Skype with products including Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone, Lync and Outlook. It also committed to supporting Skype clients on platforms outside Microsoft’s own ecosystem. For people using an iPhone alongside a Windows computer, that commitment was a meaningful part of the announcement: the usefulness of a calling network depends on being able to reach the people already on it.
Can you still use Skype on iPhone?
Skype has since retired. Microsoft’s support notice gives May 5, 2025 as the retirement date. An old review or download link should therefore not be read as a recommendation to install Skype today.
Microsoft directed consumers toward Teams Free. If you are choosing a calling app now, begin with the people you need to reach, whether you need ordinary telephone-number calling, and the devices you use. Do not assume that an old Skype subscription, feature or migration deadline still applies; consult the current support notice for your account.
For current alternatives, browse our iPhone apps coverage or research available apps in App Store intelligence.