"We've learned a lot from Skype over the years that we've put into Teams as we've evolved teams over the last seven to eight years," Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, said in an interview with CNBC. "But we felt like now is the time because we can be simpler for the market, for our customer base, and we can deliver more innovation faster just by being focused on Teams."
Over the next few days, Microsoft will start allowing people to sign in to Teams with Skype credentials, and Skype contacts and chats will transfer over, according to a blog post. People can also export their Skype data. The company will stop selling monthly Skype subscriptions, and users with credits can keep using them in Teams.