Yahoo Finance Zoom CEO describes pandemic-era use cases that 'surprised us most'
Video conferencing during the pandemic allowed people to communicate in ways many couldn't have imagined — even for the CEO of Zoom (ZM).
"We never thought about so many consumer-driven new use cases. Like Zoom wedding ceremonies, K-12 school kids leveraging Zoom for online learning, I think those kind of new use cases surprised us most," Eric Yuan told Yahoo Finance at its All Markets Summit on Monday.
The video-conferencing technology was originally built for enterprise customers. When the pandemic hit, millions turned to their phones and computer screens. Schools used the teleconferencing technology to teach online. Work places used it for meetings, and families far away used it to reunite.
“Video communication is going to change the way for us to work, to learn to play. I think there are huge opportunities ahead of us," he added.
Usage on Zoom ballooned during the pandemic, and so did its stock price. Last year the stock hit a high of $553.86. Shares are currently hovering around $280. The stock price decline comes after lockdowns eased, businesses reopened, and kids went back to school.
The company's second quarter earnings released on August 30th exceeded analysts' expectations on revenue, but showed slowing growth.
"We have to keep improving our business, keep innovating," said Yuan.
Zoom believes over the next 5 to 10 years, it can develop a videoconference experience that customers will favor over face-to-face conversations.
"We truly believe video communication like Zoom can give a better experience than face-to-face meetings in the future," Yuan says. "We are not there yet but [we're] working to get us there."
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