Zoom will develop email and calendar apps. Will it allow growth to resume?
Zoom has big ambitions to expand its business beyond video calls. According to an article in The Information, the company has spent the past two years developing its own email and calendar clients. Zoom, known internally as Zmail and Zcal, may formalize the two applications during its annual Zoomtopia conference next November. Having contacted Engadget, Zoom has not (yet) been willing to speak on the subject.
Zoom to develop email and calendar apps
You might be wondering if the world really needs another set of productivity apps and services. From Zoom’s point of view, The Information suggests that the company may view these applications as essential, simple, and essential to its survival. On the face of it, in the face of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Zoom is faring much better than many other tech companies, with $1.1 billion in revenue last quarter, for example. But behind these results, the company records rather weak growth, and the value of its shares has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Will it allow growth to resume?
The organization also found itself in the same situation as many companies struggling in the same segments as Google and Microsoft. One of Zoom’s big drawbacks is that many companies use the app in conjunction with Workspace and Office 365, two comprehensive suites that can meet most of the productivity needs of a company’s employees. In a market where companies are constantly looking to cut costs, this is not a good position. And at the same time, it’s hard to see how email and calendar clients can help Zoom regain strength over the competition, where Google and Microsoft have spent years customizing Gmail and Outlook, and those products dominate the market.