Why Microsoft is unbundling Office and Teams products
Microsoft has announced plans to offer its chat and video application, Teams, as a standalone product worldwide. This decision mirrors a similar move made six months ago in Europe to avoid potential antitrust penalties. The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft's bundling of Office and Teams since 2020, following a complaint by Slack, a Salesforce-owned workspace messaging app.
Teams's journey from office suite to standalone product
Teams was first introduced as a free addition to Office 365 in 2017, replacing Skype for Business. The application gained significant popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its video conferencing features. However, competitors have argued that Microsoft's bundling strategy gives it an unfair advantage. To address these concerns, Microsoft began offering Teams separately from the Office suite in the European Union and Switzerland starting August 31 of last year.
New commercial suites and pricing details revealed
Microsoft will introduce new commercial suites of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 that exclude Teams for regions outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Additionally, a standalone Teams product for Enterprise customers in these regions will be launched. Starting today (April 1), customers can choose to retain their current licensing agreement or switch to these new offerings. Prices for Office without Teams will range from $7.75 to $54.75, while the standalone Teams product will cost $5.25.
Microsoft may still face EU antitrust charges
Despite the unbundling of Teams from its Office suite, Microsoft could still face antitrust charges from the European Union. Competitors have raised concerns over pricing and compatibility of their messaging services with Office Web Applications. Over the past decade, Microsoft has been fined €2.2 billion in EU antitrust penalties for bundling products and could face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue if found guilty of antitrust violations.
