The European Commission will soon announce new antitrust charges against Microsoft, according to Financial Times sources.
Citing "three people with knowledge of the move", the publication revealed that the potential charges could come within "the next few weeks".
The charges relate to its bundling of Microsoft Teams and Office.
The European Commission launched a formal investigation into Microsoft bundling the products after a 2020 complaint by collaborations competitor Slack.
Last year, Microsoft unbundled the platforms - first brought together in 2017 – in Europe.
Then, in April, the enterprise tech juggernaut took the practice worldwide, referencing “feedback” from the European Commission.
In doing so, many suspected that Microsoft aimed to avoid the antitrust ruling.
Yet, EU officials still appear to have concerns that the organization has not gone far enough to enable fairness in the market.
To circumvent those concerns, Microsoft may make further concessions at the eleventh hour before the formal charge, which could derail the EU’s case.
As Microsoft potentially does so, market rivals are reportedly meeting with the European Commission this week to review the case.
That likely indicates that charges are in the making - as per the sources.
Microsoft’s Concessions Miss the Mark
Unbundling Teams and Office may impact new sales. However, the move is unlikely to affect existing customers – as they can continue renewing their current licensing deals.
Industry analyst Blair Pleasant, President of COMMFusion, raised this issue during a recent episode of UC Today’s Big News Show. She said:
Teams remains ubiquitous, and the pricing remains competitive, especially with potential discounts. Overall, it's unlikely to be detrimental to Microsoft's success.
Moreover, Microsoft only started to make these concessions when it reached a monopoly-like market share – with Teams currently boasting 320 million monthly active users worldwide.
