Salesforce Hits Microsoft with Antitrust Lawsuit in the UK Over Teams Bundling

Just a week ago, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal allowed a case against Microsoft involving Windows Server to proceed to trial. Well, Microsoft is in hot water in the UK yet again, this time for Teams bundling.

Slack legally challenges Microsoft over Teams bundling

As per Reuters report from earlier this week, Salesforce, the parent company behind Slack, filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft for bundling Teams with their products.

According to the lawsuit, Slack accuses Microsoft of having “tying and bundling arrangements” in connection with Teams. Interestingly, Slack had brought forward the similar accusation in a separate complaint submitted to the European Commission back in 2020.

The company argues that the problem lies in the way Teams are integrated with other Office products, which allegedly gives Teams an advantage over non-integrated solutions such as Slack.

Well, Microsoft has already responded, arguing that the allegations presented in the complaint are groundless, and that Slack failed to keep up with Microsoft due to the quality of its product rather than bundling. In a statement to Reuters, the company’s spokesperson said, “Slack’s lackluster growth, compared to Zoom and Teams, was based on inferior capabilities when COVID-19 hit in ​2020, and had nothing to do with Microsoft.” ​

Last year in May, Microsoft managed to avoid an antitrust fine from the EU when it agreed to bundle Office software without Teams at a reduced price. It’ll be interesting to see the outcome of Salesforce’s lawsuit this time around.