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EU slaps Microsoft with a $2.4bn fine, compelling it to separate Teams and Office amidst a continuing antitrust lawsuit
Microsoft, currently embroiled in various antitrust lawsuits and already burdened with a $2.4 billion penalty, could be staring at additional sanctions. To prevent this, the corporation has resolved to offer its Teams applications independent of its Office suite.
Microsoft has declared its plans to market its chat and video application, Teams, independently from its Office product worldwide. This decision comes half a year after the separation of the two products in Europe to alleviate possible antitrust issues raised by the EU.
The European Commission has been probing into Microsoft's packaging of Office and Teams since 2020, after receiving a complaint from Slack, a rival workspace communication application owned by Salesforce.
Teams, which was first included in Office 365 at no additional cost in 2017, has seen a rise in popularity, especially during the pandemic, due to its video conferencing features that took over from Skype for Business.
Critics contended that packaging the products gave Microsoft an undue edge. Therefore, starting from August 31st of the previous year, Microsoft began to sell Office and Teams as individual products in the EU and Switzerland.
Following customer suggestions and in an effort to offer global businesses increased buying options, Microsoft has chosen to expand their unbundling worldwide, as stated by a representative from the company.
Microsoft is implementing changes by launching new business-focused versions of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 worldwide, which will not feature Teams. Also, a separate Teams package for enterprise clients will be offered in areas beyond the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.
Starting from April 1, clients have the choice to either stick with their existing license agreements or transition to the new plans.
Prices for Office excluding Teams for new business clients will range from $7.75 to $54.75. On the other hand, Teams as a separate service will have a price tag of $5.25. The cost can fluctuate depending on the country and the type of currency.
Even though Microsoft has tried to tackle issues related to monopoly practices, it might not be enough to evade possible accusations from the European Union. Competitors are complaining about the costs and interoperability of their messaging services with Office Web Applications.
Over the past ten years, Microsoft has been hit with antitrust penalties amounting to EUR 2.2 billion in the EU for packaging goods together. If they are found to be in violation of antitrust laws, they could be penalized up to 10% of their worldwide yearly earnings.
(Incorporating information from various sources)
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