Microsoft was found violating the European Union's antitrust rules. According to AP News, the tech giant employed "possibly abusive" practices by bundling its Teams with its core productivity applications, such as Office 365 and Microsoft 365.

The Commission suspects Microsoft might have given Teams a "distribution advantage" by not allowing customers to choose whether to include Teams when purchasing the software. Limits on the interoperability of rival messaging apps with Microsoft software could have further widened this advantage.

The Commission's executive vice president for competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, cited Microsoft's product Teams as having an "undue advantage" over competitors. She emphasized that maintaining competition for remote communication and collaboration tools is essential for innovation in these markets.

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Microsoft Bundle for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 without Teams

According to VCPost, Microsoft extended the unbundled option to customers worldwide in April, allowing them to purchase Microsoft 365 and Office 365 without Teams.  

Despite these changes, the Commission stated that they are insufficient to restore competition. The company must now respond to the formal accusations, known as a statement of objections before the Commission decides.

Potential outcomes include a fine of up to 10% of Microsoft's annual global revenue or the implementation of "remedies" to resolve the competition concerns.

The Commission's investigation began in July 2023 after Slack Technologies, a rival workplace messaging software maker, filed a complaint. Videoconferencing software maker Alfaview also filed a subsequent complaint. 

Slack, owned by Salesforce, has alleged that Microsoft's bundling of Teams with its Office suite, which includes Word, Excel, and Outlook, is an abuse of market dominance that eliminates competition in violation of EU laws.

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