In a bid to allay European Union antitrust concerns, Microsoft has announced today that it will separate the chat and video application Teams from Office products starting in October this year, making it easier for rival products to use Microsoft software.
The American software giant took the step to avoid possible fines from the antitrust agency. However, it should be noted that the step will be effective only in Europe.
Microsoft’s European Union Antitrust Investigation
In July of this year, European Union regulators started an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with other Office products, citing anti-competitive concerns. It was the first EU antitrust probe into Microsoft in more than a decade, and EU officials expressed worry.
The investigation is in response to a complaint made by Slack, a workspace chat app from Salesforce. Salesforce’s Slack app filed a complaint in 2020 alleging that Microsoft was abusing its market dominance by removing competition for Microsoft Teams by integrating it with its well-known Office productivity products.
Office Products to go for $26 as Teams Unbundled: Microsoft
Given this concern, Microsoft has now maintained that it will unbundle its chat and video conference service, Teams, from its Microsoft 365 productivity suite in Europe. According to the firm, starting October 1st this year, it will sell the packages without Teams at a discounted price totaling $26 per year reduction in the European Economic Area and Swiss regions.
“We appreciate the clarity that has emerged on several of the concerns from extensive and constructive discussions with the European Commission. With the benefit of this clarity, we believe it is important that we start to take meaningful steps to address those concerns,” – Nanna-Louise Linde, Vice President of Microsoft European Government Affairs.
In addition, the software giant also promised to increase resources for compatibility with Office 365 and Microsoft 365. At the same time, it will develop tools for hosting Office online applications in rival programs and services.
“We believe these changes balance the interests of our competitors with those of European business customers, providing them with access to the best possible solutions at competitive prices, she added.”
