Slack alleges that Microsoft abused its market dominance to eliminate competition for its Teams work communication product.
Slack filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission alleging anticompetitive behavior, the company said on Wednesday.
Slack alleges in the complaint that Microsoft abused its market dominance to eliminate competition for its Teams work communication product by tying it to its popular Office productivity suite. Slack claims that move meant millions were forced to install the app without the ability to remove it. Slack runs a service that competes directly with Microsoft Teams.
Slack’s stock was down about 1% Wednesday morning and Microsoft’s was slightly positive. A Microsoft representative was not immediately available to comment. A spokesperson for the EU Competition Commission confirmed it received the complaint and said in a statement, « We will assess it under our standard procedures. »
The complaint stems from previous frustrations at Slack. CEO Stewart Butterfield told The Verge in an interview in May, « Microsoft is perhaps unhealthily preoccupied with killing us, and Teams is the vehicle to do that. » Still, Butterfield told CNBC earlier that month that « Teams is not a competitor to Slack, » even though a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission names Microsoft as Slack’s « primary competitor.
