New problems for Microsoft: the Antitrust has opened an investigation for unfair competition of Teams. According to the European Commission, the Mountain View giant violated European regulations by including its application in the package for free Officewhich includes some of the most used software for document production and data management.
The EU against Microsoft: “An unfair advantage over competitors”
According to the European Commission, Microsoft would have had an illicit distribution advantage over all other competitors, preventing the latter from competing with it and violating European rules: “We fear that Microsoft may give its Teams communications product an unfair advantage over competitors , tying it to its popular productivity suites for businesses,” he explains Margrethe Vestagerresponsible for competition policy in Europe.
“Protecting competition for remote communication and collaboration tools is essential, as it encourages innovation in these markets. If confirmed, Microsoft’s conduct would be illegal under our competition rules. Microsoft now has the opportunity to address our concerns.”
The Commission’s suspicion is that since April 2019 Microsoft has connected Teams to its main Saas applications, limiting competition and defending its market position.
What is Teams
But what is Teams? Among the company’s most famous applications, it allows you to combine different functions, such as organizing meetings, chatting, making video calls, sharing files or simply staying in touch with friends or family.
The popular platform integrates with other applications in the productivity suite Microsoft 365 and also with software from other companies thanks to a series of extensions.
The precedents between Antitrust and Microsoft
It is not the first time that Microsoft has been forced to defend itself against accusations from US and European authorities. Already at the end of the 90s, the multinational company decided to include it for free within Windows Microsoft Internet Explorer to prevent the rise of Netscape and its Navigator browser.
He intervened on the case the Antitrust, which forced Microsoft to grant access to its APIs to third-party companies for five years. However, this did not prevent it from wiping out its competitor, which definitively exited the market in 2008 after several attempts.
At the end of 2022, the Antitrust tried to prevent Microsoft’s acquisition of the video game giant Activision Blizzard for 69 billion dollars. The reasons? The action could have “stifled competition”. Nearly a year later, Microsoft was given the green light after opting out to acquire the cloud rights held by Activision, which were sold to French game developer Ubisoft Entertainment.
And what happens now?
The infraction could lead to a large fine for Microsoft. However, the company can still avoid the opening of an infringement procedure by making a series of changes to its offering, as already happened starting from 2023 when it started offering a series of new packages without including Teams.
The company Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, said the company will work to “find solutions to address the Commission’s remaining concerns.” If the EU is not satisfied, Microsoft could receive a fine of up to 10% of its annual revenues. But what will the consequences be for users of the platform? We are awaiting an official statement from the company, which has not yet commented on the issue.
