Investigation into Microsoft Teams Culminates in More Bad Antitrust Enforcement Against US “Big Tech,” Says ITIF

WASHINGTON—Following the European Commission’s Statement of Objections against Microsoft for tying Teams with its 365 suite, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Joseph V. Coniglio, Director of Antitrust and Innovation, leading ITIF’s Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy:

The charges against Microsoft are yet another chapter in the European Union’s ongoing crusade against American technology companies using weaponized antitrust policy aimed at protecting competitors rather than competition, innovation, and consumers.

This isn’t the 1990s. Microsoft Office faces intense competition from Google Workspace and other rivals. In fact, according to some public estimates, Microsoft may have as little as a 30 percent market share worldwide—well below the 40 percent threshold typically applied to determine whether dominance is unlikely.

Microsoft’s conduct not just has procompetitive justifications, but the notion that it has resulted in Teams’ dominance or consumer harm doesn’t hold up. Salesforce’s Slack has a sizable market presence and recent assessments confirm that competitors like Zoom and Google Meet both have larger shares than Teams in most European markets.

Moreover, Microsoft has already unbundled Teams and began enabling interoperability measures in response to the Commission’s investigation. This raises the question of whether a lawsuit was necessary to solve the Commission’s remaining concerns or if it wanted yet another headline.

In view of the EU’s continued antitrust offensive, it is only natural that American technology companies will continue to seriously consider whether it makes economic sense for them to bring their innovative products to European consumers.

Contact: Sydney Mack, [email protected]