Benzinga | Oct 8, 2021 03:50PM EDT

EU Questions Microsoft Peers Following Slack's Complaint

* The European Commission probes Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ:MSFT) rivals if its Teams app bundled with its Office product gives it more significant clout, hinting at a potential investigation, Reuters reports.

* The EU sought data regarding the migration of customers to Microsoft, revenue loss, the impact of the bundled products, and the price and quality of the products.

* Popular workplace app providers include Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM), Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO).

* Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) owned Slack alleged that tying or bundling Teams with Office was illegal and urged the EU competition agency to separate the two.

* Slack said Microsoft pre-installed the workplace chat making it challenging to remove and refusing to provide information that would allow rival products to work with Teams and Office.

* The EU questioned whether bundled products offer access to data that may increase their market power in both markets and make them anti-competitive.

* The EU also inquired about barriers to entry or expansion in the workplace apps market, switching costs for customers, and the importance of user data protection.

* The EU questioned the role of the COVID-19 in driving the demand for workplace apps and the post-pandemic repercussions.

* The EU is focusing on the period 2016 - 2021. Microsoft introduced Teams in early 2017 to compete with Slack and others in the fast-growing workplace collaboration market.

* Price Action: MSFT shares traded lower by 0.06% at $294.68 on the last check Friday.

* Photo by StockSnap from Pixabay