European Commission says bundling of app with other products may be anti-competitive
It became one of the hits of remote working during the Covid pandemic, but now the EU has launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of its Teams video and chat app with some of its other products.
The European Commission said the decision to bundle Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages may constitute anti-competitive behaviour. It is the EU’s first antitrust investigation into Microsoft in more than a decade.
The commission’s move follows a complaint in 2020 by the company behind a rival communications system and after the US tech giant’s proposals to address the complaint failed to satisfy the regulator in Europe.
Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the commission with responsibility for competition policy, said: “Remote communication and collaboration tools like Teams have become indispensable for many businesses in Europe. We must, therefore, ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive, and companies are free to choose the products that best meet their needs.
