Microsoft to unbundle Teams and Office amid EU’s antitrust scrutiny

Microsoft has announced that it will begin selling its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product on a global scale, marking a departure from its previous bundling strategy.

Source: Microsoft Office

The decision comes in the wake of ongoing antitrust scrutiny, particularly in Europe, where the company faced the threat of fines over its tying of Office and Teams.

Source: Europe

The move follows a six-month period during which Microsoft separated the two products in Europe, a measure that addresses concerns raised by competitors and regulatory authorities.

Source: Microsoft Office

The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft's bundling practices since 2020, prompted by a complaint from Salesforce-owned CRM.N, the parent company of competing messaging app Slack.

Source: Teams

Teams, initially integrated into Office 365 in 2017, saw a surge in popularity during the pandemic, particularly for its video conferencing feature.

Source: Microsoft Teams

Rivals argued that bundling the products together gave Microsoft an unfair advantage in the market.

Source: Slack