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ARTICLE · 19 JUNE 2026

Getting Down To Business? CMA Opens Investigation Into Microsoft’s Business Software Ecosystem

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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has launched a strategic market status investigation into Microsoft's business software ecosystem, examining whether the tech giant holds substantial and entrenched market power across its productivity suite, operating systems, and security tools. The investigation will scrutinize Microsoft's commercial practices, technical design choices, and potential leveraging of market dominance into adjacent markets like cloud services, with the possibility of imposing bespok

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Christophe Humpe
Christophe Humpe
Matthew Jones
Matthew Jones
Greg Dowell
Greg Dowell

On 14 May 2026, the CMA launched a strategic market status investigation (SMSI) into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem under the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), bringing a large group of Microsoft software products and systems potentially within the scope of a future SMS designation.

The CMA has nine months from the launch of an SMSI to decide whether to designate a firm under investigation as having strategic market status (SMS) in relation to one or more digital activities. Once designated, that firm can be made subject to conduct requirements (CRs) - bespoke legal obligations relating to its future conduct. Alternatively, the CMA could accept voluntary commitments if a swift and pragmatic solution to its concerns can be agreed. It could also launch a pro-competitive intervention (PCI) investigation if it has reasonable grounds to consider that specific factors relating to the relevant digital activities have adverse effects on competition – giving

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