Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business retirement dates changed

May 17, 2018 06:54 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has decided to push back the retirement dates of some of its enterprise apps for Windows phones for a reason that wasn’t disclosed, but which is very likely to be based on the feedback received from customers.

Specifically, Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business were originally scheduled to get the ax in the Store this month, but according to new announcements published by Microsoft, both apps will live for a little bit longer.

Microsoft Teams will officially be pulled from the Store, which means that users would no longer be able to download it, on July 20. It will completely stop working on October 20.

“Although Microsoft continues to support Windows 10 Mobile, we are not focused on building new features for the system. We will continue to invest in Microsoft Teams mobile apps for iOS and Android and in desktop apps for Windows and Mac,” Microsoft says.

Skype for Business to be available until end-2019

Skype for Business will be pulled from the Store in August this year for Windows Phone 8.1 devices, while Windows 10 Mobile users will have until December 2019 to download it. Windows 10 Mobile is projected to reach the end of support in mid-2019, so Skype for Business will stick around for nearly half a year after the platform as a whole goes dark.

“The Windows Phone app for Skype for Business is being retired. After this change takes effect, new users will no longer be able to download the app from the Microsoft Store, and the app will no longer be supported,” Microsoft says.

The company also adds that there’s a chance Skype for Business may continue to work even after being retired, though it also explains that it’s better to prepare the transition to other platforms to make sure the activity isn’t affected.

Windows 10 Mobile is still being used by some enterprises, but market share has declined substantially in the last couple of years and is close to 0% worldwide at this point.

Via OnMSFT