EU To Probe Microsoft Over Alleged Tying of Office and Teams
The European Union’s antitrust regulators have initiated a probe into Microsoft’s integration of its chat and video application Teams with its Office suite, citing concerns that this practice may hinder competition.
The European Commission’s decision follows a complaint by Salesforce-owned workplace messaging app Slack in 2020, and after the US tech giant’s remedy offer failed to address the EU competition authority’s concerns.
“The Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area in communications and collaboration products,” the Commission said in a statement.
A Microsoft spokesperson said that Microsoft continues to work with the European Commission and that the company remains committed to finding solutions to address the Commission’s concerns.
Reuters reported earlier this month that the EU’s competition watchdog was set to launch an investigation after Microsoft refused to offer bigger price cuts to its office without the teams.
