Microsoft is now selling its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally, in response to concerns about antitrust violations raised by the European Commission. The decision comes after Microsoft had initially unbundled the two products in Europe. The company is aiming to provide more flexibility for multinational companies and address feedback from the European Commission.
Microsoft will sell its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally, the US tech giant said on Monday, six months after it unbundled the two products in Europe in a bid to avert a possible EU antitrust fine.
The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft’s tying of Office and Teams since a 2020 complaint by Salesforce-owned competing workspace messaging app Slack.
Teams, which was added to Office 365 in 2017 for free, subsequently replaced Skype for
Business and became popular during the pandemic due in part to its video conferencing.
Rivals, however, said packaging the products together gives Microsoft an unfair advantage.
The company started selling the two products separately in the EU and Switzerland on Aug. 31 last year.
“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.
“Doing so also addresses feedback from the European Commission by providing multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardise their purchasing across geographies.”
Microsoft said in a blogpost that it was introducing a new lineup of commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites that do not include Teams in regions outside the EEA (European Economic Area) and Switzerland, and also a new standalone Teams offering for Enterprise customers in those regions.
Starting April 1, customers can either continue with their current licensing deal, renew, update or switch to the new offers.
For new commercial customers, prices for Office without Teams range from $7.75 to $54.75 depending on the product while Teams Standalone will cost $5.25. The figures may vary by country and currency. The company did not disclose prices for current packaged products.
Microsoft’s unbundling may not be enough to stave off EU antitrust charges which will likely be sent to the company in the coming months as rivals criticise the level of the fees and the ability of their messaging services to function with Office Web Applications in their own services, sources said.
Microsoft, which has racked up 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in EU antitrust fines in the past decade for tying or bundling two or more products together, risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of antitrust breaches.
In a recent move that has caught the attention of technology enthusiasts and businesses alike, Microsoft has announced its decision to separate its popular collaboration platform, Microsoft Teams, from the broader Microsoft Office suite. This significant shift in strategy has sparked discussions and raised numerous questions about the future of these essential productivity tools. With this separation, end-users will likely experience a more bespoke and focused experience in utilizing the distinct functionalities offered by both Microsoft Teams and MS Office. To understand the implications of this news, it is crucial to delve deeper into the rationale behind this decision and the potential impact it may have on businesses and individuals. Stay tuned for more updates as Microsoft continues to refine and evolve its offerings to better serve the needs of its users and the changing landscape of work and collaboration.
Source: ARY NEWS
Microsoft globally separates Teams from Office products, addressing EU antitrust concerns and offering customers more flexibility. The move follows the unbundling in Europe, where the European Commission has been investigating the tying of Office and Teams. The company introduces new commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites without Teams in regions outside the EU and Switzerland, along with a standalone Teams offering for Enterprise customers. Microsoft’s unbundling may not prevent EU antitrust charges, as rivals criticize fees and compatibility with their messaging services.
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