Latest news with #Nanna-LouiseLinde
Business Mayor
19-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Microsoft seeks to placate EU with pledges to unbundle Teams, Office
Global Economy May 16, 2025 The Microsoft Teams app on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images Microsoft on Friday made fresh commitments to unbundle its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 software suites from its Teams workplace communication app in an effort to address competition concerns from European regulators and avoid a possible antitrust fine. The European Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, said in a statement Friday that Microsoft made a series of commitments to address concerns over the tying of Teams to its widely-used productivity tools, such as Word and Outlook. Under the proposals, Microsoft has said it will make versions of Office 365 and Microsoft 365 available without Teams at a reduced price, as well as allow customers to switch to the tools without Teams, including under existing contracts. Microsoft also committed to offer Teams' competitors increased interoperability with other Microsoft products and let customers move their data out of Teams to competing products. Interoperability refers to the practice of allowing different applications to communicate with each other more easily. 'The proposed commitments are the result of constructive, good-faith discussions with the European Commission over several months,' Nanna-Louise Linde, vice president of European government affairs at Microsoft, said in a statement. 'We believe that they represent a clear and complete resolution to the concerns raised by our competitors and will provide European customers with more choices.' The EU has been scrutinizing Microsoft's tying of Teams with its popular Office productivity suite following a legal claim made by workplace messaging app Slack in 2020 that the bundle represented an abuse of market power. Slack was acquired by Salesforce for $27.7 billion in 2021. Sabastian Niles, Salesforce's president and chief legal officer, said the European Commission's announcement Friday 'further affirms that Microsoft's anticompetitive practices with Teams have harmed competition and require a binding, enforceable, and effective remedy.' 'We will carefully scrutinize Microsoft's proposed commitments,' he added. Microsoft previously made a pledge to unbundle Teams from Office in 2023, offering to sell Microsoft 365 without the chat and videoconferencing service at a discounted price. It then expanded on that move globally with an offer to sell the two products separately. Friday's news marks an attempt by the Redmond, Washington-based tech titan to end the EU dispute and avert a potential hefty antitrust fine. WATCH: Watch CNBC's full interview with Perplexity co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas READ SOURCE
The Hindu
17-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Microsoft Office-Teams offer to receive feedback from rivals and customers before EU decision
Microsoft has offered to sell its Office product without Teams at a lower price than Office with Teams as well as offer rivals better interoperability access to its services and products, EU antitrust regulators said on Friday. The European Commission said it was now going to seek feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept the offer. Reuters was the first to report about the move earlier this week. Microsoft's offer would bring an end to a long-running case triggered by a 2020 complaint by Salesforce-owned Slack, which could have resulted in a hefty antitrust fine for the U.S. tech giant. Microsoft's Vice President for European Government Affairs Nanna-Louise Linde said in a blogpost that the proposal was a clear and complete resolution to concerns raised by rivals and would give Europeans more choice. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft says it would sell Office without Teams to get Europe off its back
You might not need to be a Teams player anymore, if you choose not to, based on Microsoft's (MSFT) offer to the European Commission to unbundle products like Word and Outlook from its Teams workplace collaboration app. The software giant said Friday that — after a series of 'constructive, good-faith discussions' with the executive arm of the European Union — customers could purchase the company's productivity suites, like Office 365, without signing up for Teams. That option would then apply for customers globally, not just in the EU. Microsoft emphasized the option of interoperability, the ability for consumers to move data to competitors' products, and for different platforms to communicate effectively. Microsoft views its offer as a 'clear and complete resolution to the concerns raised by our competitors and will provide European customers with more choices,' said Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft's vice-president of European government affairs, in a statement. The Redmond, Washington-based company has an expensive history with EU regulators. Its operations on the continent have been under scrutiny since 1993, with an investigation into its licensing and royalties. In 2004, the EU imposed a €497-million penalty (approximately $700 million at the time), followed by a €899-million fine (approximately $1.36 billion) for non-compliance in 2008, which was reduced slightly in 2012. Microsoft has had an easier ride in the U.S. since the antitrust cases here in the early 2000s. Microsoft hasn't been the EU's only target in recent years. Hefty antitrust fines have been handed out to Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOGL), and Intel (INTC) too. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
16-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Microsoft offers cheaper Office without teams to address EU concerns
Microsoft has offered to make its Office product without Teams cheaper than when sold with Teams, EU antitrust regulators said on Friday, which could spare the company a big fine and ease tensions with the United States. The European Commission said it would seek feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept the offer. Reuters was the first to report the proposal earlier this week. If accepted, it would end a long-running case triggered by a 2020 complaint from Salesforce-owned Slack, which could have resulted in a massive antitrust fine for the US tech giant. Germany's alfaview also complained. Microsoft's Vice President for European Government Affairs Nanna-Louise Linde said in a blogpost the proposal was a clear and complete resolution to concerns raised by rivals and would give Europeans more choice. Its offer would allow Europeans to buy Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites without Teams for less than corresponding suites that include Teams, the EU competition enforcer said. Microsoft said the maximum price differential between the two suites would be 8 euros ($9). The proposal would also allow rivals to inter-operate with certain Microsoft products and services for specific functionalities, embed Office web applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in their own products, and integrate their products in Microsoft's core productivity applications. Customers in Europe would be able to extract their Teams messaging data for use in competing solutions. The pricing offer would be valid for seven years and interoperability for 10 years. Microsoft, which has accrued 2.2 billion euros in EU antitrust fines in past years, said it would align the options and pricing for its suites and Teams service globally if the EU regulator accepts its offer. "We are hopeful that following the market test, the European Commission will conclude that the proposed commitments resolve its concerns and in the following months adopt a final decision closing its investigation," Microsoft's Linde said. Interested parties have a month to provide feedback. Salesforce said it would scrutinise the offer. US President Donald Trump has threatened to levy tariffs against countries that penalise US companies.
Engadget
16-05-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Microsoft attemps to avoid EU fines by further decoupling Teams and Office
The European Commission (EC) has been firing on all cylinders in holding big tech to account through various fines and enforcement actions, attempting to create a more competitive landscape in a space that has become increasingly monopolized. Microsoft has been in a years-long dispute with the EC, which opened an antitrust probe in 2023 after Slack filed a complaint in 2020 alleging that Microsoft's bundling of Teams and Microsoft 365 was anticompetitive. The company unbundled the two products in the EU shortly thereafter in a bid to avoid antitrust fines, but it wasn't enough to appease the EC. In 2024, the Commission found that Microsoft did not go far enough and was still in violation of antitrust laws, risking massive fines. This week, Microsoft responded with a more robust set of commitments. Its productivity software suites will continue to be offered without Teams in the European Economic Area (EEA) for at least seven years. Minimum price deltas will be set between versions of the suites that include Teams and those which do not. Microsoft has also offered to align these options and pricing structures for its suites and Teams globally should the EC accept its proposal. Interoperability enhancements that make it easier to use third-party competitors to Teams were also included in the proposal. "The proposed commitments are the result of constructive, good-faith discussions with the European Commission over several months. We believe that they represent a clear and complete resolution to the concerns raised by our competitors and will provide European customers with more choices," said Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft's VP of European Government Affairs. The EC has begun an open feedback period , seeking comments from competitors and citizens on whether the proposed commitments by Microsoft are adequate and place the company back within the bounds of the EU's antitrust regulations. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
