Update, July 22 (1:00 pm ET): Microsoft responded with a statement that points toward Slack's lack of video-conferencing as a reason Slack "suffered."
What you need to know
- Slack accused Microsoft of anticompetitive practices in an EU complaint.
- Slack alleges that Microsoft's market dominance was abused to eliminate competition for Microsoft Teams.
- Specifically, the complaint alleges that millions were forced to install Microsoft Teams without the ability to remove it.
Microsoft was accused of anticompetitive practices in an EU complaint by Slack according to a new report from CNBC. Slack alleges that Microsoft's market dominance was abused to eliminate competition for Microsoft Teams. Slack alleges that this was done by tying Microsoft Teams to the Office suite. Slack also claims that millions of people were forced to install Teams and didn't have the ability to remove it. The allegations are laid out in a new post from Slack.
A Microsoft spokesperson shared the following comment with us:
We created Teams to combine the ability to collaborate with the ability to connect via video, because that's what people want. With COVID-19, the market has embraced Teams in record numbers while Slack suffered from its absence of video-conferencing. We're committed to offering customers not only the best of new innovation, but a wide variety of choice in how they purchase and use the product.We look forward to providing additional information to the European Commission and answering any questions they may have.
These allegations seem to indicate a change in stance by Slack, or create a dichotomy between statements from Slack's CEO and the company's recent allegations. Less than two months ago, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said in an interview with CNBC, "What we've seen over the past couple of months is that Teams is not a competitor to Slack."
Stewart specifically addressed Microsoft tying Teams to what was then called Office 365 in 2019, stating "If it's based on the bigger distribution, I don't think that's really a threat." The bigger distritubtion in the quote rfeferring to Office 365, as reported by CNBC.
