BRUSSELS: Microsoft has announced plans to sell its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally. This decision comes six months after the tech giant unbundled the two products in Europe, a move aimed at avoiding potential fines from the European Union (EU).
The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft’s practice of tying Office and Teams together since receiving a complaint in 2020 from Slack, a competing workspace messaging app owned by Salesforce.
Teams, initially integrated into Office 365 in 2017 at no additional cost, gained popularity during the pandemic, particularly for its video conferencing capabilities. However, rivals argued that bundling the products gave Microsoft an unfair advantage in the market.
Microsoft Extends Unbundling Efforts
To address concerns raised by the European Commission and provide more flexibility to multinational companies, Microsoft has extended its unbundling efforts globally. Starting April 1, customers worldwide will have the option to purchase Office and Teams separately.
In regions outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, Microsoft will introduce new commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites that exclude Teams, as well as offer a standalone Teams package for enterprise customers.
While Microsoft’s decision to unbundle Teams and Office may not fully alleviate antitrust concerns, as rivals continue to criticize the company’s pricing and interoperability issues, the move represents a significant step towards compliance with EU regulations.
Having faced substantial fines totaling 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) over the past decade for antitrust violations related to product tying, Microsoft risks further penalties, including fines of up to 10% of its global annual turnover, if found guilty of breaching antitrust laws.
