"Must do more"

Microsoft faces massive antitrust fine over Teams

The EU Commission warned on Tuesday that this was a violation of EU antitrust rules.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

The US software giant Microsoft is facing a massive antitrust fine from Brussels for its handling of the popular chat and video application Teams. The concessions made to unbundle Teams and the Office product family are not enough for the EU competition regulators.

The EU Commission warned on Tuesday that this was a violation of EU antitrust regulations. If the EU maintains its stance, Microsoft could face fines of up to ten percent of its annual turnover. In response to the allegations, the US company had already announced in April that it would in future sell Teams separately from the Office packages worldwide - and not just in Europe as previously planned.

"The Commission considers these changes to be insufficient for the time being. Microsoft must do more to restore competition", the statement said. "Preserving competition in telecoms and collaboration applications is essential, also because it promotes innovation in these markets," said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

Preceded by Salesforce complaint
The EU's investigation was in response to a complaint from competitor Salesforce, which owns the messaging app Slack. Teams was initially launched on the market free of charge with Office 365 in 2017 as a replacement for Skype Business. Its popularity grew during the coronavirus pandemic, primarily due to its video conferencing functions.

"Advantage in sales" through bundling
The joint marketing with Office gives Microsoft an advantage in sales, the Commission justified its criticism. In addition, there are problems in the interaction with Microsoft programs when customers use competing messaging systems.

Microsoft CEO Brad Smith emphasized the company's willingness to address the concerns raised by Brussels. "We welcome the additional clarity we have today and will continue to work on solutions to address the Commission's remaining concerns." Over the past two decades, the US company has paid a total of 2.2 billion euros for the illegal bundling of two or more products.