LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The European Commission’s antitrust regulators intend to soon open a formal antitrust inquiry into Microsoft Office after talks to find a solution fell apart.
Slack filed a complaint against Microsoft in 2020 alleging that it was engaging in illegal and anti-competitive business practices, including tying Microsoft Teams to its “dominant Office product” and preventing its removal—a “carbon copy” of its “illegal behavior during the ‘browser wars,'” according to Slack.
However, the software giant acted rapidly to appease the regulators due to various antitrust issues in the EU—the European Commission is looking into Azure, and it previously looked into, but approved, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
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In April, we also heard that Microsoft promised to stop combining Teams with Office; however, the latest Reuters story notes that the company actually only offered to sell Office for less in versions in which Teams was not bundled.
The article claims that the EU demanded a greater price reduction than Microsoft was prepared to offer.
It appears that the EU will present its own remedies to this issue given that the two sides are unable to come to an agreement.
However, a Microsoft representative asserted that there is still hope for agreement between the two parties.
According to them, “We continue to cooperate with the [European] Commission in its investigation and are open to pragmatist solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well.”