Microsoft: Fair Competition for Cloud Services is Essential

Editorial

14:57 JST, March 4, 2026

Cloud services, which enable the management of various data on the internet, are part of the foundation supporting a digitalized society. It is necessary to ensure a fair competitive environment and protect users’ convenience.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission has launched an on-site inspection of the Japanese arm of U.S. tech giant Microsoft Corp. on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Law.

The company is suspected of preventing its Windows operating system and other software from being used on competitors’ cloud platforms. There is also reportedly the possibility that it set conditions that made software usage fees more expensive when using other companies’ cloud services.

Microsoft’s software, such as its operating systems, Word and Excel, has become widespread among businesses and dominates a significant share of the market. It would be problematic if the company used this dominance to steer customers into a situation in which they cannot select other companies’ cloud services in place of Microsoft’s. This would mean that it unfairly locked in customers.

The Antimonopoly Law prohibits “trading on restrictive terms” in which companies unfairly restrict the handling of their competitors’ products, as well as “interference with competitors’ transactions” involving coercion or unfair means. The JFTC believes that actions of the Microsoft’s side may be in violation of the law.

If companies do not compete over the quality of their services and other matters, resulting in decreased room for choice, that would undermine users’ convenience. The JFTC should investigate thoroughly to foster a healthy competitive environment.

Amazon.com, Inc. ranks first in its share of the global cloud market, with Microsoft second and Google LLC third. These three companies hold an oligopoly, controlling over 60% of the market.

Cloud services do not require the purchase of equipment such as servers and can save the effort of building and managing systems on one’s own. They are highly effective in improving operational efficiency and reducing costs. The global market has grown to about $420 billion (about ¥66 trillion).

Fair competition over cloud services is essential because the proliferation of generative artificial intelligence has made such services a major battleground in the digital sector, significantly impacting the livelihoods of the public. All services connect to the cloud, making cloud services critically important for productivity improvements.

Overseas authorities are also actively investigating the cloud market.

The European Union announced in November last year that it would begin an investigation to assess the influence of Microsoft and other companies in the cloud market. Britain published a report in summer last year pointing out that Microsoft is negatively impacting competition.

How to strengthen regulations against these increasingly dominant U.S. tech giants is a major challenge. It is hoped that Japan’s antitrust watchdog will also deepen its cooperation with overseas competition authorities.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 4, 2026)