In a significant move aimed at addressing antitrust concerns, Microsoft has announced its decision to sell its chat and video app, Teams, separately from its Office product globally. This strategic decision follows the unbundling of the two products in Europe six months ago, a measure taken by the tech giant to avoid potential antitrust fines from the European Commission.
The European Commission had initiated an investigation into Microsoft's tying of Office and Teams following a complaint filed in 2020 by Slack, a competing workspace messaging app owned by Salesforce. Teams, initially integrated into Office 365 in 2017 at no additional cost, has rapidly gained popularity, especially during the pandemic, owing to its robust video conferencing capabilities.
