What you need to know
- Microsoft responded to Slack's allegations of anticompetitive practices.
- Slack accused Microsoft of abusing its market dominance to eliminate competition for Microsoft Teams.
- A Microsoft spokesperson said that Slack "suffered" due to its lack of video conferencing.
Microsoft responded to Slack's accusation of anticompetitive practices. Earlier today, Slack filed a complaint to the EU which claimed Microsoft abused its market dominance to eliminate competition for Microsoft Teams. Now, a Microsoft spokesperson responded to the accusations.
Here's the complete statement from the Microsoft spokesperson with emphasis added:
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.
The statement is more direct than many responses shared from Microsoft spokespersons. We'll continue to update our coverage of these accusations from Slack and Microsoft's response as more details come out.
