Microsoft Teams Adds 475% Daily Active Users In About A Year

Microsoft Corporation’s MSFT workplace collaboration software, called "Teams," has 115 million daily active users (DAUs) as of 2021 first quarter's end, CEO Satya Nadella revealed in an earnings call Tuesday, as earlier reported by GeekWire.

What Happened: This is a 53.3% growth from April — when Microsoft Teams reported having 75 million DAUs, and 161.3% since March — when the technology giant reported having 44 million DAUs for the service.

In November 2019, Microsoft Teams had reported about 20 million daily active users, suggesting a growth of 475%.

Microsoft Teams was launched in 2016 and inched its way to 13 million DAUs in July 2019. Last week, there were reports that Microsoft sales teams were instructed to increase pitches to existing customers and promote its Dynamics 365 products. Additionally, Microsoft's recent feature launches and updates make its collaboration software much more lucrative for professionals working remotely.

In September, a guided meditation process was introduced in partnership with Headspace. A “Together Mode” feature, launched in July, depicts video call participants in a common virtual space instead of the traditional grid layouts. 

An upcoming feature, allowing users to create Adhoc breakout rooms is expected sometime next month, according to GeekWire.

In August, the tech giant released notes to integrate Microsoft Teams with consumer engagement apps in the Dynamics 365 suite.

Why Does It Matter: The pandemic outbreak and lockdown measures have forced the adoption of remote collaboration tools. Microsoft’s bundled package which combines Microsoft 365 and Teams, competes with the likes of Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM and Slack Technologies Inc WORK.

In July, Slack approached the European Commission for relief against Microsoft's business practices, citing that the trillion-dollar tech titan has an unfair competitive advantage. Slack’s General Counsel David Schellhase commented, “Microsoft is reverting to past behavior. They created a weak, copycat product and tied it to their dominant Office product, force installing it and blocking its removal, a carbon copy of their illegal behavior during the ‘browser wars."

Microsoft reported strong growth for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021 on Tuesday, with sales of $37.2 billion and an EPS of $1.82.

Price Action: After a 1.51% surge during Tuesday’s trading session, MSFT dipped 1.66% to close at $209.70 during after-hours.