Microsoft to separate Teams and Office amid scrutiny

Microsoft said on Monday that it will sell its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally.

• The announcement comes six months after it unbundled the two products in Europe to avert an EU antitrust fine. Teams, added to Office 365, replaced Skype for Business and became popular due to its video conferencing.
• Rivals said packaging the products together gave Microsoft an unfair advantage. Since Microsoft Teams was unbundled in Europe, its user base remains primarily unchanged, according to Sensor Tower data.
• In the past decade, Microsoft has racked up 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in EU antitrust fines for tying or bundling products. It risks a fine as high as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of antitrust breaches.

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