On Tuesday, Germany’s anti-cartel watchdog said that it was considering if it needed to place US giant Microsoft under close watch for any possible abuse. The Federal Cartel Office said it was taking the first action to see if Microsoft is of “paramount significance across markets”.
If this is found to be the issue, the action could pave the path for the authorities to take preventive steps against anti-competitive practices. The authority’s president Andreas Mundt noted that Microsoft has had a longstanding and strong position with its Windows and Office products.
The firm has also quite grown its cloud services Azure and OneDrive, as well as its Teams video conference services. Mundt said that more recently, the company has attracted attention with the integration of AI applications. He added that In light of this, there are good reasons to examine whether Microsoft is of paramount significance for competition across markets. Such a finding would allow us to take action at an early stage and prohibit possible anti-competitive practices.
The watchdog had already set Google and Meta under toughened monitoring. Such a move was made possible by the amended German Competition Act, which came into force in January 2021 and allows the authority to interfere earlier, especially against giant digital firms.
Big tech firms have been encountering increasing scrutiny around the globe over their dominant positions as well as their tax practices. The EU and Britain in March opened antitrust investigations into a 2018 agreement between Google and Meta allegedly sought at cementing their authority over the online advertising market.
