VOICE, a German association of IT users, has filed a complaint with the EU Commission against Broadcom/VMware for infringements of competition law. According to the user association, Broadcom is abusing its dominant market position in the field of virtualization software.
Specifically, VOICE accuses Broadcom of “imposing exorbitant and unfair price increases with the help of arbitrarily compiled product bundles as part of the switch from perpetual licensing to subscription.” VOICE reports price increases of several hundred percent, citing companies directly affected.
Although Broadcom had promised not to raise prices in the run-up to the takeover of VMware, the conversion of the offer to two large main product bundles, the introduction of subscription models and the categorization of customers into categories caused massive price increases, according to a statement from the user association. As a rule, customers cannot switch to another provider of virtualization software, or can only do so at great expense in terms of time and money. VOICE sees this behavior as an abuse of Broadcom’s dominant market position.
“Broadcom is exploiting its customers’ dependence on VMware products in a highly questionable manner,” explained Robin Kaufmann, VOICE managing director. “As an independent user association that represents the interests of its members, we are obliged to take action against such unfair practices.”
Read more Broadcom and VMware news:
- CISPE raises red alert over VMware licensing changes
- Thinking of moving off VMware? Gartner tallies cost
- Broadcom distrust drives sales for VMware competition
- AT&T and Broadcom near settlement in VMware support dispute
The user group had initially tried direct dialog with Broadcom but without success. “The company obviously only has its ambitious financial targets in mind and is not at all interested in the interests of its customers,” Kaufmann said.
User representatives are particularly critical of the bundling of products that were previously sold separately, which leads to high cost increases for user companies. The two main product packages available today bundle the previous individual products, and individual products are only available to a very limited extent. Customers have to purchase all the products in a bundle, regardless of whether they need them or not.
The VOICE representatives also take Broadcom’s pricing policy to task. According to them, the prices of the bundles are based on the greatest demand. “For example, if a customer needs significantly more licenses for server virtualization than for storage virtualization, they still have to purchase the same amount of network licenses as they need for server virtualization,” the association reported.
And when speaking of double negative bundling effects, the association explained: “The compulsion to purchase more products than needed leads to a qualitative bundling effect. The compulsion to acquire more licenses than required leads to a quantitative bundling effect.”
srcset=”https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?quality=50&strip=all 1600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=300%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=768%2C432&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&quality=50&strip=all 1024w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&quality=50&strip=all 1536w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=1240%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 1240w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=150%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=854%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 854w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=640%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 640w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/VOICE-Robin-Kaufmann-16-zu-9.jpg?resize=444%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 444w” width=”1024″ height=”576″ sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>Broadcom only has its financial targets in mind and is not interested in the concerns of its customers, says Robin Kaufmann, VOICE managing director.
VOICE
Those responsible for VOICE also criticize Broadcom’s business practices. Customers whose existing license agreements are expiring are being put under considerable pressure to negotiate. For example, the provider denies its customers the necessary time for the changeover or contractually agreed renewal options. In addition, the provider deliberately delays responses to inquiries so that customers have as little reaction time as possible to meet the deadlines set by Broadcom.
“Due to these and many other serious violations of fair competition, VOICE has decided to lodge a complaint with the EU Commission,” explained VOICE’s Kaufmann. “We are committed to fair competition in the software and cloud market, which is unfortunately repeatedly called into question by unfair practices by large providers. We want to defend ourselves against this.”
Anyone who also wants to take action against Broadcom’s unfair practices is welcome to contact VOICE.
This article originally appeared in Computerworld Germany.
Source:: Network World