Text size
Zoom, the video conferencing company, is reportedly working on web-based applications for email and calendars in the latest expansion of its offerings.
Dreamstime
Zoom Video Communications
in recent months it has been making a steady push to expand its product list, adding conference room software (Zoom Rooms), cloud-based telephony (Zoom Phone) and an event market (OnZoom).
And now Zoom (ticker: ZM) is planning to enter the email and calendar software market.
According to The Information, Zoom has begun developing a web-based email service “and may offer a very early version of the product to some customers next year.” The story is attributed to “two people with direct knowledge of the issue.” The report also says Zoom is “studying” the creation of a calendar application and is considering developing corporate directory software.
The story states that Zoom CEO Eric Yuan has been considering expanding the company’s core offering to include a full set of communication tools, including email, messaging and productivity tools, a step he would take. the company competing head-to-head with both.
Microsoft
(MSFT) i
Alphabet‘s
(GOOGL) Google.
Zoom declined to comment on the report.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused an explosion in video conferencing use in 2020 and Zoom has been a major beneficiary of the trend: the company’s most recent quarter revenue rose 367%. But investors are beginning to ask tough questions about how the company will fare in 2021, with competition increasing and many students and knowledge workers are likely to return to classrooms and offices next year.
The cloud-based communications market is cramming. Microsoft has been aggressively pushing Teams, a unified communications package that includes messaging, video, and other tools included with its Office 365 productivity package. And Google has a large user base for Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Hangouts . (This is De Barron users, along with
Slack Technologies
(WORK).)
In the meantime,
RingCentral
(RNG) has recently introduced a new combined video and collaboration tool called Glip, which offers the free service for up to 100 users.
Cisco Systems
(CSCO) has revised WebEx, adding new collaboration features. And of course,
Salesforce.com
(CRM) recently agreed to pay $ 27.7 billion in cash and shares for Slack.
Zoom shares on Wednesday were down 5.9% to $ 384.91. While shares continue to rise more than 460% during the year, Zoom shares have fallen about $ 200 from the October high, losing about 35% of their value.
Write to Eric J. Savitz to [email protected]