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TECHNOLOGY Thursday 4 June 2020
Zoom booms as pandemic drives millions to its video service

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Zoom ended April with
Zoom Video Communica- 265,400 corporate custom-
tions is rapidly emerging ers with at least 10 employ-
as the latest internet gold ees, more than quadru-
mine as millions of people pling from the same time
flock to its conferencing last year. About 30% of the
service to see colleagues, company's revenue in the
friends and family while most recent quarter came
tethered to their homes from users with fewer than
during the pandemic. 10 employees, up from 20%
Tuesday's release of the in the November-January
once-obscure company's period.
financial results for the Feb- Although Zoom remains fo-
ruary-April period provided cused on servicing its cor-
a window into the astro- porate customers, Yuan is
nomical growth that has hoping to figure out ways
turned it into a Wall Street to make money from the all
star. the socializing and learning
Zoom's revenue for its fiscal that is happening on the
first-quarter more than dou- service, too. Some ana-
bled from the same time lysts have speculated that
last year to $328 million, re- eventually may involve
sulting a profit of $27 million In this April 23, 2020 file photo, members of the Vermont House of Representatives convene in a showing ads on the free
— up from just $198,000 a Zoom video conference for its first full parliamentary online session in Montpelier, Vt. version of Zoom, although
year ago. Associated Press the company hasn't giv-
The numbers exceeded en any indication it will
analysts' already height- Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, who participants attending a time when about 40 million do that. "There are a lot
ened expectations, provid- co-founded the company meeting held on its ser- people in the U.S. have lost of opportunities ahead of
ing another lift to a rock- nine years ago. He made vice, up from 10 million five their jobs since mid-March, us," Yuan said in Tuesday's
eting stock that has more the remarks during the vid- months ago. Those num- raising the specter of the video conference without
than tripled in price so far eo conference that at one bers include people who worst economic downturn elaborating.
this year while the bench- point attracted more than join multiple Zoom meet- since the Great Depression If it hopes to continue to
mark Standard & Poor's 500 3,000 participants, a reflec- ings during the same day, of the 1930s. expand, Zoom also will also
index has fallen 5%. tion of the intense interest something that has been The San Jose, California, will likely have to do a bet-
After a big run-up leading in the company and its hot happening more recently company has always ter job of protecting the
up to Tuesday's highly an- stock. in recent months. made most of its money privacy of its video con-
ticipated announcement, In a sign that the compa- But the once-weak privacy from companies that sub- ferences. To help achieve
Zoom's stock initially rose ny still expects phenom- controls also helped make scribe to a more sophisti- that goal, Yuan has been
even higher in extended enal growth in the months Zoom extremely easy to cated version of its service consulting since April with
trading. But it abruptly re- ahead, Zoom forecast use, one of the reasons it that traditionally has been Alex Stamos, a highly re-
versed course and fell more revenue of roughly $500 became such a popular used for business meetings spected online security ex-
than 3% after company ex- million for its current quar- way to hold online classes, among employees work- pert who previously worked
ecutives acknowledged ter ending in July, more business meetings and vir- ing in offices far apart from at Yahoo and Facebook.
during a video discussion than quadrupling from the tual cocktail hours after each other. Both those companies en-
that some of its newfound same time last year. For its most of the U.S. began or- But the pandemic-driven countered their only secu-
users might depart during full fiscal year, Zoom now dering people to stay at shutdown turned Zoom rity and privacy problems,
the second half of the year expects revenue of about home in effort to reduce into a tool for employees too.
if health worries caused by $1.8 billion, nearly tripling in the spread of the corona- who once worked along- Zoom's success is also draw-
the novel corornavirus dis- a year. virus that causes COVID-19. side each other, but have ing stiffer competition from
sipate. Zoom's boom has come Zoom also offers a free ver- been doing their jobs from much larger companies, in-
Even if the shares trade despite privacy and secu- sion of its service, another home during the past few cluding Microsoft, Google
in similar fashion during rity problems that enabled factor in its popularity at a months. and Facebook.q
Wednesday's regular ses- outsiders to make uninvited
sion, the stock will still be — and sometimes crude —
hovering around $200 — appearances during other
more than five times the people's video conferenc-
company's initial public of- es.
fering price of $36 less than The concerns prompted
14 months ago. some schools to stop using
The surge left Zoom with a Zoom for online classes that
market value of about $59 have become widespread
billion through Tuesday — since February, although
greater than the combined the company's efforts to in-
market values of the four troduce more security pro-
largest U.S. airlines, which tection has brought some
have seen their businesses back to the service. More
hammered by the corona- than 100,000 schools world-
virus outbreak that has dra- wide are now using Zoom
matically curtailed travel. for online classes, accord-
"Videoconferencing is go- ing to the company.
ing to become a main- Overall, Zoom now has
stream service," predicted more than 300 million daily