Microsoft’s Teams video conferencing and collaboration software which it bundles with a suite of other productivity tools has violated antitrust rules according to European Union policy makers. This move has given Microsoft an undue advantage over its competitors. Regulators said the packaging of Teams alongside established software tools in Office 365 and Microsoft 365, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, amounted to an unlawful abuse of market power that Zoom or Slack could not equal. Regulators explained that if businesses wanted any other software by Microsoft they had no options other than taking Teams.
In recent months the EU has made several announcements concerning world’s largest tech platforms with Apple also being accused of violating competition rules due to its App Store policies on Monday. Other investigations are underway into Amazon, Google, Meta, TikTok and X.
Microsoft’s case is rooted in Covid-19 pandemic which necessitated remote workforces’ need for videoconferencing and collaboration tools such as Zoom, Slack and Teams. The complaint against Microsoft’s bundled sales by Slack in 2020 was based on allegations that this practice stifled fair competition among firms selling similar products. According to EU regulators, Microsoft would not allow customers to choose whether they want to purchase Teams along with other software packages thus giving them an unfair “distribution advantage”. This meant that “the conduct may have prevented Teams’ rivals from competing, and in turn innovating,” according to the European Commission (EU’s executive arm conducting the investigation).
These charges filed on Tuesday mark one step ahead for a long journey. In response however; Microsoft can file its defense but if there is no consent between these two parties then they will pay a fine up to 10% of their annual revenue globally. It is similar therefore; to US justice department’s antitrust charges brought decades ago against Microsoft for bundling Internet Explorer into its Windows operating system that were eventually resolved.
On Tuesday though; change details added or removed – such as: the dispute had been resolved by Microsoft. In a bid to resolve this dispute, Teams was disassociated from Office products last year. However; the European Commission said it was “insufficient” and demanded more without specifying what.
