Microsoft Considers Shuffling Products to Dodge EU Probe

Microsoft is considering isolating its Teams software from its Office suite globally, following EU investigation into antitrust complaints.

There is a possibility that Microsoft would isolate its Teams software from the rest of the Office products it offers. Competitors’ complaints reportedly prompted the EU to investigate the IT giant, leading to the current actions.

Microsoft to Separate Teams From Rest of Office

Moreover, this comes when the European Union employs its new digital laws to punish Apple and Google. According to Reuters, Microsoft announced Monday that it will market its chat and video software Teams independently from its Office suite worldwide.

This comes six months after the company unbundled the two products in Europe to avoid a potential antitrust lawsuit from the European Union.

In 2020, the European Commission initiated an investigation into Microsoft’s integration of Office and Teams after receiving a complaint from Slack, a competing workspace messaging program that Salesforce owns.

Teams, a complimentary addition to Office 365 in 2017, finally succeeded Skype for Business as the most popular business communication platform.

The video conferencing functionality of Teams contributed to the platform’s rise to prominence during the pandemic. Despite this, Microsoft’s rivals asserted that the company had an unfair advantage because the products were packaged together.

Beginning on October 1st of the previous year, the company started selling the two products in discrete quantities across the European Union and Switzerland.

Furthermore, recent reports suggest that internet giants like Google and Apple might soon face regulatory challenges in the European Union. This announcement prompted Microsoft’s decision and the EU’s scrutiny.

The European Union may impose significant fines due to its investigations into whether or not Apple Inc. and Google, which Alphabet Inc. owns, comply with new laws that limit the influence of large technology companies.

Individuals familiar with the situation have reported that the European Commission is preparing to announce within the next few days that it will begin conducting investigations into the firms following the Digital Markets Act of the European Union.

The European Union is likely to be particularly concerned about the increasing prices, rules, and conditions that Apple and Google have imposed on app store creators.