Microsoft has announced that it will sell its popular chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product suite globally.
This move comes six months after the tech giant unbundled the two European products to avert a potential antitrust fine from the European Commission.
________________________________________________________________________
- Microsoft will sell Teams separately from the Office suite globally amid an EU antitrust probe.
- The move follows the unbundling of Teams from Office in Europe last October to avoid potential fines.
- The new product lineup offers Office without Teams.
________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Unbundles Teams from Office Suite Globally to Comply with Antitrust Regulations
The European Antitrust Investigation
In 2020, Salesforce-owned workspace messaging app Slack filed a complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Microsoft was engaging in anti-competitive behavior by tying Teams with its Office suite.
The Commission subsequently launched an investigation into Microsoft’s bundling practices.
Teams’ Rise During the Pandemic
Teams, initially added to Office 365 for free in 2017, replaced Skype for Business and saw a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its video conferencing capabilities.
However, rivals argued that packaging Teams with Office gave Microsoft an unfair advantage in the market.
Unbundling in Europe
To address the EU’s antitrust concerns, Microsoft started selling Teams and Office separately in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland on October 1, 2022.
Global Unbundling
Citing customer feedback and the need for multinational companies to standardize their purchasing across regions, Microsoft has now decided to extend this unbundling to customers globally.
“To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
New Product Lineup
As part of this move, Microsoft is introducing a new lineup of commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites that do not include Teams in regions outside the EEA and Switzerland.
The company also offers new standalone Teams for Enterprise customers in those regions.
Starting April 1, 2024, customers can continue their current licensing deal, renew, update, or switch to the new offers.
Pricing and Availability
For new commercial customers, prices for Office without Teams range from $7.75 to $54.75, depending on the product, while the standalone Teams offering will cost $5.25.
These prices may vary by country and currency.
Microsoft did not disclose pricing for its current bundled products.
Regulatory Scrutiny Continues
Despite this move, Microsoft may still face antitrust charges from the EU in the coming months, as rivals criticize the level of fees and the ability of their messaging services to function with Office Web Applications in their services.
However, analysts suggest that Microsoft’s proactive approach could soften regulators’ stance and reduce the severity of any potential fines.
By separating Teams from its Office suite globally, Microsoft aims to address antitrust concerns and provide more flexibility to multinational customers.
While this move may not completely ward off regulatory scrutiny, it demonstrates Microsoft’s willingness to comply with antitrust regulations and could potentially mitigate the consequences of any future antitrust rulings.
Leave a Reply