The EU is looking at Microsoft and other American companies as nice ripe apples to pick. Here come the fines
Microsoft is facing a significant antitrust fine from the European Commission, which has accused the tech giant of illegally bundling its Teams chat and video app with its Office 365 suite, including popular products like Word. These allegations are the most severe Microsoft has encountered since 2013, when it was fined €561 million for not promoting competitors to its Internet Explorer browser.
Microsoft hit with EU antitrust charge over Teams app, risks hefty fine https://t.co/uxo4b2yXWm
— Buzz Knight (@BuzzKnight4) June 25, 2024
Teams usage surged during the pandemic as remote work became essential, with users increasing from 20 million in 2019 to 300 million in 2023, according to Statista. The European Commission’s investigation, triggered by a 2020 complaint from Slack, concluded that Microsoft’s dominant position in the professional “software as a service” (SaaS) market might have given Teams an unfair advantage over rival products. The Commission is concerned that bundling Teams with Office 365 disadvantages competitors like Slack and Alfaview, which offer their products separately.
Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy at the Commission, emphasized the importance of maintaining competition in the market for remote communication and collaboration tools to foster innovation. Microsoft now has the opportunity to respond to these concerns.
EU Commission accuses Microsoft of breaking antitrust rules with bundled Teams app – @EURACTIV https://t.co/ppTGGXbn4v
— Laurentiu B . 🇪🇺 (@laurbjn) June 25, 2024
Earlier this year, Microsoft attempted to address these issues by announcing plans to unbundle Teams from some software packages sold in Europe. However, the regulators found these measures insufficient and called for further adjustments. Microsoft’s Vice-Chair and President, Brad Smith, expressed the company’s willingness to work with the Commission to resolve the remaining issues, acknowledging the need for more comprehensive solutions.
The investigation began in July last year after complaints from Canadian Slack Technologies, now owned by Salesforce, and German video conference provider Alfaview. Niko Fostiropoulos, CEO of Alfaview, welcomed the Commission’s preliminary findings, agreeing that Microsoft’s initial countermeasures did not adequately address the competition concerns.
Microsoft violated European Union antitrust rules with “possibly abusive” practices by tying its Teams messaging and videoconferencing app to its widely used business software, the bloc said. https://t.co/KfPV6GRDYn
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) June 25, 2024
Key Points:
i. The European Commission has accused Microsoft of antitrust violations for bundling its Teams app with the Office 365 suite, including Word.
ii. Microsoft could face significant fines, marking its most serious antitrust challenge since a €561 million fine in 2013 for issues with Internet Explorer.
iii. The complaint, initially filed by Slack in 2020, led to an investigation which concluded that bundling Teams with Office 365 gives it an unfair advantage over competitors.
iv. Microsoft attempted to mitigate regulatory concerns by unbundling Teams from some software packages in Europe, but the Commission deemed these efforts insufficient.
v. The investigation highlights ongoing regulatory efforts to maintain competition in the tech industry and prevent market dominance from stifling innovation and fair competition.
Fallon Jacobson – Reprinted with permission of Whatfinger News
