EU launches investigation into Microsoft’s sales of Office 365 bundled with Microsoft Teams
The European Union has expressed its intention to probe Microsoft’s tied selling of Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, with a view to ascertain if such practice amounts to monopolistic conduct.
From the European Union’s perspective, Microsoft’s bundling of Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, devoid of options that allow consumers to choose other collaborative software, raises questions about its impact on market competition.
In times past, the European Union has scrutinized Microsoft’s tied selling of the IE browser with the Windows operating system, accusing it of monopolistic practices. The European Union demanded that Microsoft provides an option for the download of third-party browsers within the Windows operating system, to circumvent stymieing the growth opportunities of other browser developers.
The initiation of this investigation into Microsoft stems from allegations of market monopolization leveled by Salesforce’s collaborative software service, Slack, in July 2020. Thus, the investigation into Microsoft’s tied selling of Microsoft Teams and Office 365 commenced, as the forced installation of Microsoft Teams on user systems was believed to infringe upon user rights.
Nevertheless, Microsoft has since stated its willingness to cooperate with the European Union and endeavors to allay their concerns. In light of these remarks, Microsoft plans to modify the selling model of the Office products, including versions that do not come bundled with Microsoft Teams. However, the specific details of this plan have yet to be disclosed.
