"The European Commission has informed Microsoft of its preliminary opinion that Microsoft has violated EU antitrust rules by tying its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular productivity applications included in its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 business suites" , the commission said in a statement. of Objections.
The commission mentioned that it is concerned that, at least since April 2019, Microsoft has been tying Teams with its main SaaS productivity applications, thus restricting competition in the market for "communication and collaboration products and defending its position in the market for productivity software and its suites. model focused on competing individual software vendors.”
The EU launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's inclusion of Teams almost a year ago, in July 2023.
Following this investigation, Microsoft announced at the end of August last year that it would partially separate Teams. However, announcing the results of its initial investigation on Tuesday, the European Commission said it believes changes made by Microsoft to distribute Teams last year were not enough to address its concerns.
The tech giant is urged to take further action.
"We are concerned that Microsoft may be giving its own Teams communications product an undue advantage over its competitors by tying it to its popular enterprise productivity suites," said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president in charge of competition policy.
"If confirmed, Microsoft's conduct would be unlawful under our competition rules. Microsoft now has the opportunity to respond to our concerns," she added.
A formal finding of violation of EU competition rules could lead to Microsoft being fined up to 10 percent of its annual global turnover. The bloc could also impose remedies if it determines that measures are necessary to restore competition.
The commission mentioned that it is concerned that, at least since April 2019, Microsoft has been tying Teams with its main SaaS productivity applications, thus restricting competition in the market for "communication and collaboration products and defending its position in the market for productivity software and its suites. model focused on competing individual software vendors.”
The EU launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft's inclusion of Teams almost a year ago, in July 2023.
Following this investigation, Microsoft announced at the end of August last year that it would partially separate Teams. However, announcing the results of its initial investigation on Tuesday, the European Commission said it believes changes made by Microsoft to distribute Teams last year were not enough to address its concerns.
The tech giant is urged to take further action.
"We are concerned that Microsoft may be giving its own Teams communications product an undue advantage over its competitors by tying it to its popular enterprise productivity suites," said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president in charge of competition policy.
"If confirmed, Microsoft's conduct would be unlawful under our competition rules. Microsoft now has the opportunity to respond to our concerns," she added.
A formal finding of violation of EU competition rules could lead to Microsoft being fined up to 10 percent of its annual global turnover. The bloc could also impose remedies if it determines that measures are necessary to restore competition.
