The pandemic has been a boon to Zoom
The COVID-19 pandemic has gutted many businesses all over the world, but it’s also been a boon to a few. One of the biggest winners of the global health emergency is teleconferencing app Zoom, which has transformed from a niche, little known company to the defacto app of the modern plague.
In fact, Zoom is now worth more than 7 top airlines in terms of market capitalization, according to an infographic made by visualcapilist.com.
Zoom’s current market capitalization (the total dollar market value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock) is estimated at $48.78 billion and rising, despite the company only posting revenues of $623 million over the past year.
Compare that to the dropping market capitalization of 7 of the world’s biggest airlines, the biggest of which, Southwest, only has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion.
The reasons are clear: as more businesses were forced to adopt a work-from-home solution to combat the spread of COVID-19, few solutions were as simple, easy-to-use, and as free as Zoom. Airlines, on the other hand, are being devastated by unheard-of travel restrictions in countries as well as an unprecedented lack of demand by travelers in places where it is still allowed to fly.
And while there have been privacy concerns with Zoom, the company has been swift to act on the issues that were brought about by exploding demand. Zoom has also taken steps to become the app of choice for educators and schools thanks to CEO Eric Yuan’s directive that allowed K-12 schools to use the app for free.
The result speaks for itself: from 10 million users in December 2019 to a whopping 300 million as of April 2020.
The biggest question now is if Zoom can sustain its momentum through the year. As more countries loosen restrictions on citizens meant to curb the spread of the virus, more and more companies are reverting back to face-to-face meetings and office work, though at a lower level before the lockdowns hit.
As for the airlines, they’re in for a tough year. International travel will likely be sparse until a vaccine is found, and even then new protocols for check-in, boarding and disembarkation may turn off many travelers for a year or two.
