Microsoft
will unbundle Teams video conferencing from other software offerings in Europe, a bid to assuage regulatory concerns and delivering a win to
Salesforce
-owned Slack, which filed a competition complaint against the tech giant in 2020.
Microsoft
(ticker: MSFT) announced in a Thursday blog post that it will change the way it sells software to businesses in Europe in response to its first formal European Union probe in more than a decade. Effective Oct. 1, the company will unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites, instead offering those services at a lower price without Teams, and will enhance interoperability with its software.
“We believe these changes balance the interests of our competitors with those of European business customers,” Microsoft’s vice president of European government affairs, Nanna-Louise Linde, wrote in the blog post. “We also recognize that we are still in the early stages of the European Commission’s formal investigation. We will continue to engage with the Commission.”
The move delivers a win to Slack, which is owned by
Salesforce
(CRM) and is the primary competitor to Teams. Slack filed a competition complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission in July 2020, alleging that Microsoft was engaging in illegal and anti-competitive practices by tying Teams to market-dominant Office software services.
Microsoft shares rose slightly in premarket trading. Salesforce was rising 5.3% after reporting second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
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