Way back when, Skype used to be a major force in online calling, as well as video calls. So much so that tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) bought it to keep it running. But with a growing array of competitors, Microsoft ultimately decided to take Skype out of the picture. Investors were less than pleased, and shares slipped fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading.
A Dilbert strip from 2021 illustrated a lot of why Skype ended up shutting down. Dilbert attempts to schedule a “follow-up call” with the Pointy Haired Boss, and offers a laundry list of options, including Zoom (ZM), FaceTime, Signal, WhatsApp, or a voice call. That might have been the last straw for Skype, but that camel’s back was already looking pretty strained as far back as the 2010s, when smartphones started to catch on and offer that panoply of options seen previously.
But Skype will not be completely dead, reports note. Microsoft is instead migrating its users to Microsoft Teams, where users will be able to put their Skype credentials to work therein. In fact, reports note, Microsoft is taking a lot of what made Skype great originally and building it into Teams, which actually does have a pretty robust video conferencing system. Skype, for its part, will be completely shut down this May.
That New Xbox We Keep Hearing About
Meanwhile, it might surprise you to realize that the latest iteration of Xbox is about to turn five years old, and that may mean a new version is to come out soon. The new version is, of course, unconfirmed as of yet, so we are still talking about early days. But with word also out that Sony (SONY) is working on the PlayStation 6, that largely behooves Microsoft to get to work or risk getting left behind. Or, perhaps, further behind.
However, reports also suggest that “starting work” and “available to buy” may have quite a bit of lag time between them. Reports noted that “…the earliest we can do a proper next-gen would be 2027, and anything before that would be either a ‘new kind of Xbox’ or absurdly rushed.” So we may just be hearing about the early stirrings with a release date of significantly later ahead.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 29 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.59% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $510.38 per share implies 30.6% upside potential.
