Microsoft to unbundle Teams from Office to appease EU competition concern

Microsoft  (MSFT) - Get Free Report shares edged lower in pre-market trading after the tech giant unveiled plans to unbundle its Teams app from its broader Office products suite in order to appease competition concerns from European officials.

The move follows the launch of a probe by the European Commission last month into the impact of Microsoft's tying Teams, a popular chat and video app that gained traction during the pandemic, to its Office 365 suite. 

Microsoft rival Salesforce CRM filed a complaint to European officials earlier this year, arguing that including Teams as a free offering in Office 365 was harming the company's ability to expand Slack, the business messaging app it purchased in 2020.

Microsoft has paid more than $2.4 billion in fines to the European Commission over the past ten years linked to the bundling of its products that authorities has said would stifle fair competition.

"Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even while the European Commission's investigation continues and we cooperate with it," Microsoft's vice president for European government affairs, Nanna-Louise Linde, said in a blogpost.

'Customers should be able to choose a business suite without Teams at a price less than those with Teams included ... we should do more to make interoperability easier between rival communication and collaboration solutions and Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites".

Microsoft shares were marked 0.05% lower in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $328.70 each.

• Action Alerts PLUS offers expert portfolio guidance to help you make informed investing decisions. Sign up now.