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Zoom, the video conferencing company, is supposed to be working on web applications for email and calendars in the latest expansion of its offerings.
The time of dreams
Zoom video communications
In recent months it has been under constant pressure to expand its product list, adding software for conference rooms (Zoom Rooms), cloud-based telephony (Zoom Phone) and an event market (OnZoom).
And now Zoom (ticker: ZM) intends to enter the market for email and calendar software.
According to The Information, Zoom has begun developing a web-based e-mail service, “and could offer a very early version of the product to customers next year.” The story is attributed to “two people with direct knowledge of the problem.” The report also says that Zoom “analyzes” the creation of a calendar application and considers the development of software for the corporate directory.
The story states that Zoom CEO Eric Yuan considered expanding the company’s core offering to include a full set of communications tools, including email, messaging and productivity tools – a move that would put the company in -a head-to-head competition with both.
Microsoft
(MSFT) and
AlphabetS
(GOOGL) Google.
Zoom declined to comment on the report.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused an explosion in the use of video conferencing in 2020, and Zoom was a major beneficiary of the trend – revenues in the last quarter of the company increased by 367%. But investors are beginning to ask tough questions about how the company will fare in 2021, with increased competition and many students and knowledgeable workers returning to classrooms and offices at some point next year.
The cloud-based communications market is becoming increasingly crowded. Microsoft has aggressively pushed Teams, a unified communications suite that includes messaging, video, and other tools that it ships with the Office 365 productivity suite. And Google has a large user base for Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Hangouts. (That’s what Barron’s users, together with
Slack Technologies
(THE WORK).)
In the meantime,
RingCentral
(RNG) recently unveiled a new combined video and collaboration tool called Glip, which offers 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 stock for Slack.
On Wednesday, Zoom stock fell 5.9% to $ 384.91. While shares have risen more than 460% so far, Zoom shares have retreated by about $ 200 from their October high, losing about 35% of their value.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]