A person with knowledge of the situation claims that throughout the past year, the manufacturer of communications software has spoken with the US Federal Trade Commission, as well as competition authorities from the EU, UK, and Germany. According to the person, who requested anonymity because the conversations were private, Zoom highlighted worries about the way Microsoft favours its Teams videoconferencing software through price bundling and product design.
The EU’s competition watchdog has been investigating whether Microsoft’s linking of Teams to commercial products Microsoft 365 and Office 365 violated antitrust laws. A three-year-old complaint about the chat service Slack from Salesforce Inc. prompted the EU investigation. The largest software company in the world, Microsoft, announced this week that Teams would be unbundled in Europe starting on October 1.
In March, the Federal Cartel Office of Germany launched an investigation into Microsoft using newly granted jurisdiction to outlaw specific tactics that restrict online competition. The German probe is looking into, among other things, how OneDrive and Teams are bundled with Microsoft’s other productivity software.
Initial investigations into cloud services, a market where Microsoft’s Azure is a key player, have been launched by US and UK authorities. In April, the UK’s digital watchdog warned that Microsoft and its cloud rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. may be limiting innovation with some of their business practises.
Even though Teams is its main rival, Zoom avoided the topic until last week, when CEO Eric Yuan suggested that the FTC look into Microsoft’s bundling practises. Yuan remarked on Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia and Technology Conference, “You’ve got to be fair no matter what.
The CEO of Zoom compared the contest to a sporting event and claimed that even with a better squad, you can’t win if the other team receives more points for each shot.
Beyond Yuan’s comments, Zoom declined to comment. Microsoft also choose not to respond.
Since the pandemic, Zoom has struggled to maintain revenue growth after witnessing rapid expansion as entire industries relied on their videoconferencing software. The company, which is based in San Jose, California, has increased the range of services it offers to businesses, adding internet-based phones, contact centres, scheduling, and AI assistants.