Zoom reportedly working on email service to compete with Google and Microsoft

The company might offer a very early version of the product next year

Video-conferencing company Zoom is set to raise $1.75bn through a stock offering in New York. AP

Zoom Video Communications, which had a blockbuster year and became an essential service for office meetings and family get-togethers during the Covid-19 pandemic, is developing an email facility that will compete with Google's Gmail and Microsoft's Outlook, The Information reported.

"The company has begun developing a web email service and might offer a very early version of the product to some customers next year," The Information, a US digital media company, reported.

The new email services will aim to offer a “next generation” experience instead of merely copying the features that users already have and the company is also eyeing the rollout of a calendar application, the news portal reported, citing sources.

The video streaming platform saw its shares grow more than 500 per cent this year and new revenue streams may make Zoom less of a single-purpose platform and help it compensate for a potential decline or stagnant growth once the pandemic subsides and life returns to normal.

To explore new technologies, Zoom increased its research and development spending in the third quarter to the end of October to $25 million, an 80 per cent annual increase. R&D was almost 3 per cent of the total revenue earned during the quarter.

People, businesses, schools, universities turned to Zoom in the wake of Covid-19-related movement restrictions and lockdowns.

The Nasdaq-listed company's third quarter net profit surged to $198.4m, from $2.2m in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the period jumped 367 per cent to $777.2m.

This month, Zoom increased its revenue outlook for the fourth quarter and full financial year, with fourth quarter revenue to hover between $806m and $811m. The company estimates full year revenue to be between $2.57 billion and $2.58bn – more than three times its financial earnings last year.

Zoom’s major competitors in videoconferencing domain – Google (Meet) and Microsoft (Teams) – are already offering a bundle of services that include web email services and calendar apps.