Zoom sees sales boom amid covid-19 pandemic

When it comes to its growth rate, video conference company Zoom has lived up to its name.

Use of the firm’s software jumped 30-fold in April, as the coronavirus pandemic forced millions to work, learn and socialise remotely.

At its peak, the firm counted more than 300 million daily participants in virtual meetings, while paying customers have more than tripled.

The dramatic uptake has the potential to change the firm’s path.

Zoom said it expects sales as high as $1.8bn (£1.4bn) this year – roughly double what it forecast in March.

“It’s a huge opportunity,” chief executive Eric Yuan told investors on Tuesday.

When the firm sold its first shares to the public last year, it was valued at $15.9bn. That shot to more than $58bn on Tuesday.

“What Zoom has done is kind of democratised video conferencing for all kinds of businesses and made it very simple for everyone from yoga instructors through to board room executives to deploy video,” says Alex Smith, senior director at Canalys.

When the lockdowns started, Zoom lifted the limits for the free version of its software in China and for educators in many countries, including the UK, helping to drive its popularity.

But the firm’s bread and butter customers are corporate clients, who pay for subscriptions and enhanced features.

Zoom said on Tuesday that sales jumped 169% year-on-year in the three months to 30 April to $328.2m, as it added more than 180,000 customers with more than 10 employees since January – far more than it had expected.

It also turned a profit of $27m in the quarter – more than it made in all of the prior financial year.