Microsoft has announced that it will be selling its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally. This decision comes six months after the tech giant unbundled the two products in Europe in an effort to avoid potential antitrust fines from the European Commission. The move was prompted by a complaint from Salesforce-owned competing workspace messaging app Slack, which accused Microsoft of giving itself an unfair advantage by packaging Teams with Office.
Teams was originally added to Office 365 for free in 2017 and quickly gained popularity, especially during the pandemic when remote work and video conferencing became the norm. However, competitors argued that bundling the two products together was anti-competitive and limited consumer choice. In response to these concerns, Microsoft began selling Teams and Office separately in the EU and Switzerland last year.
According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the decision to unbundle Teams from Office globally is aimed at providing more clarity for customers and addressing feedback from the European Commission. The company will be introducing new commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites that do not include Teams in regions outside the European Economic Area, as well as offering a standalone Teams option for Enterprise customers in those regions.
Customers will have the option to continue with their current licensing deals, renew, update, or switch to the new offerings starting on April 1. Prices for Office without Teams will range from $7.75 to $54.75 for new commercial customers, while the standalone Teams offering will cost $5.25. Microsoft has not disclosed prices for current packaged products.
Despite these changes, Microsoft may still face antitrust charges from the EU, as rivals argue that the fees and limitations imposed on their messaging services when using Office Web Applications are unfair. The company has a history of antitrust fines from the EU, totaling 2.2 billion euros in the past decade, and could face further penalties if found guilty of anticompetitive behavior.
In my opinion, Microsoft’s decision to unbundle Teams from Office globally is a step in the right direction towards promoting fair competition and consumer choice. By offering the two products separately, customers will have more flexibility in choosing the tools that best suit their needs. However, it remains to be seen whether these changes will be enough to satisfy regulators and competitors, especially given Microsoft’s history of antitrust violations. It will be important for the company to continue to listen to feedback and make adjustments as needed to ensure a level playing field in the tech industry.