Microsoft May End Up In Yet Another EU Antitrust Investigation Because Slack Had Issues With Teams

Microsoft might quickly face yet one more antitrust investigation within the European Union (EU). The firm has reportedly failed to achieve an settlement with the EU Antitrust Commission relating to its Teams platform.

The EU had beforehand warned and fined Microsoft for bundling two or extra merchandise collectively. The Windows OS maker could should defend itself as a result of it bundled Microsoft Teams with Microsoft Office 365 as a complimentary add-on.

Slack Drags Microsoft Into EU Antitrust Probe For Bundling Teams With Office 365

Microsoft has supplied Skype for people and companies for a very long time. However, Skype for Business was steadily retired in favor of Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is a feature-packed collaboration and workplace productiveness in addition to a distant communications platform. It rivals Google Workspace, Zoom, Slack, and several other different platforms that supply related functionalities and options.

Microsoft added Teams to Office 365 in 2017 as a complimentary add-on. The platform ultimately changed Skype for Business.

Slack, which is owned by Salesforce, objected to this inclusion. The firm alleged that its rival had unfairly built-in office chat and video app Teams into its Office product.

In a press release given to Financial Times in 2020, Slack mentioned that Microsoft, “illegally tied its Teams product into its market-dominant Office productivity suite, force installing it for millions, blocking its removal, and hiding the true cost to enterprise customers”.

The EU Antitrust Commission Has Rejected Microsoft’s Remedial Steps

The EU Antitrust Commission took cognizance of the difficulty and requested Microsoft to reply. As a remedial measure, Microsoft advised it will provide a less expensive model of Office 365 for customers who selected to not use Teams.

The EU needs Microsoft to cut back the worth of the Office 365 subscription with out Teams. The worth differentiation between the 2 variations of the distant collaboration and workplace productiveness suite should be wider to make sure a degree enjoying subject and provides customers extra decisions, the EU watchdog insisted.

A Microsoft spokesperson has indicated that the corporate is actively cooperating with the Commission and the corporate is, “open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well.”

It is kind of potential that Microsoft might submit a brand new remedial proposal earlier than the EU watchdog to stave off the investigation. However, the corporate must hurry if it needs to keep away from the investigation from beginning.

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