Microsoft Will Change Teams Prices In Office To Avoid EU Antitrust Fines

Microsoft Teams application display (photo: dock. unsplash)

JAKARTA Microsoft is trying to avoid antitrust fines from the European Union by changing Teams prices. The chat and video applications will be sold at a price that is better able to compete.

According to three different sources, citing from Reuters, Microsoft will enlarge the price difference between Office products sold with Teams support and without the support of the video app. This action came after Microsoft received a complaint.

Five years ago, Salesforce's Slack complained about the price of Microsoft Teams to the European Commission. Not only Salesforce, Alfaview, who is a competitor to Germany, also has similar complaints.

Teams was first added to the Office 365 service in 2017. This video application was quite popular, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, which eventually replaced Skype for Business. However, the costs offered by Microsoft are considered detrimental to competitors.

According to Salesforce and other video service provider companies, the Office packages supported by the Teams platform should be sold more expensively. That way, competitors can offer products at a more competitive and attractive price.

Regarding the complaints filed by several companies, the European Commission has asked for input from several companies. Later, the commission will decide whether they will conduct formal market tests.

If the issue of Teams prices that cannot compete is a problem by the European Commission, Microsoft may be fined by the agency. So far, the tech companies' fines in the European Union have reached 10 percent of global annual revenue.

However, it is possible that Microsoft will qualify from the European Union fine as the company has separated Teams from Office in 2023. The company also plans to sell Teams independently for 5 euros per month (IDR 84 thousand).