Microsoft could be able to avert a heavy Antitrust fine as it seems likely that EU regulators would be willing to accept the unbundled offer on its products Office and Teams.
They told it to Reuters three people aware of the matter, in the midst of the tensions with the United States regarding the EU's control over Big Tech and with President Trump threatening to impose tariffs on countries that penalize US companies.
Microsoft, which in recent years has received fines for a total of 2,2 billion of euros for combining two or more products and for other crimes, found itself once again in the crosshairs of sanctions EU antitrust after the American Salesforce in a complaint filed with the European Commission in 2020, it alleged that Microsoft was gaining an unfair advantage by bundling the Teams chat and video app with its Office product. In 2023, the German competitor Alfaview had filed a similar complaint with the EU supervisory authority.
Microsoft then separated Teams from Office in 2023, selling Office without Teams for $2 less than Office with the video app, while the standalone version of Teams would sell for $5 a month. In February, it widened the price difference after competitors said the first offering wasn’t enough.
The sources said the European Commission will likely seek the views of competitors and customers in the coming months before making a final decision, and things could still change depending on the outcome of the market test and other factors. Microsoft's proposal now includes better interoperability conditions to facilitate competition between competitors, they said.
Cuts around 6000 employees to reduce AI spending
Meanwhile, Microsoft is in the spotlight for its heavy data center investments, announced yesterday that it will lay off nearly 3% of its employees at all levels, across all teams and geographies, and the cuts will also include Linkedin. “We continue to implement the organizational changes necessary to best position the company in a dynamic market,” a spokesperson said. As of last year, Microsoft had about 228 employees, so about 6000 people could lose their jobs. It is the largest round of layoffs since 2023, when ten thousand positions were eliminated.
Microsoft has come under pressure in recent years after multiplying its data center investments necessary to carry forward theartificial intelligence. This fiscal year alone will see about $80 billion allocated to data centers. The group still reported better-than-expected results, with a quarterly net profit of $25,8 billion and a positive outlook for the end of April.