Zoom. The term has become synonymous with web conferencing just as Google is for online searches. This comes as no surprise, as the platform has risen meteorically in a short span of time. It was virtually unknown, especially to non-enterprise users. It was only when COVID-19 swept the world that the app became a household name.
Zoom’s sudden rise to fame left even founder Eric Yuan scratching his head. After all, he and his team designed it for corporate use. But ever since people spread the word about how easy to use this particular web conferencing software is—boom, Zoom’s stock prices soared. But with this, the vendor’s problems multiplied. The Zoom statistics below will walk you through the growth of the once-fledgling company, who uses it where, and some of the issues it’s currently facing.
Zoom Statistics Table of Contents
Zoom Usage Statistics
Both work and school had to move online. With the myriad number of solutions available, there are still many organizations and educational institutions that chose Zoom for communication. Zoom usage statistics show that Zoom showed strong growth: the video call solution had 300 million daily active participants in April 2020, a month after the pandemic closed offices and schools.
General
- Zoom.us had a high share of female users from August 2019 to July 2020 at 50.5%. (SimilarWeb, 2020)
- The communication platform had 10.47 million downloads by January 2021 on the App store. This made it the 7th leading non-gaming iPhone app publisher worldwide. (Airnow, 2021)
- Zoom webinar statistics reveal that the solution is the leading web conferencing software with a market share of 38.21%. (WebinarDude, 2020)
- Zoom.us made it to the list of top websites in the world at number 21 with 1.90 billion visits. (WebinarDude, 2020)
- Around 60,052 companies are known to use Zoom for communications. (Enlyft, 2021)
- In the unified communications market, Zoom has a 13.6% market share. (Enlyft, 2021)
- Companies in the computer software industry use the video conferencing solution the most (7%). (Enlyft, 2021)
- Religious institutions are some of the largest users of the application as well (5%). (Enlyft, 2021)
- 69% of organizations that utilize the software are small. (Enlyft, 2021)
- The United States has 50% of Zoom’s users. (Enlyft, 2021)
- The United Kingdom is home to 6% of Zoom’s users. (Enlyft, 2021)
- Adults aged 35 to 49 comprise 29% of Zoom’s downloaders. (Forbes, 2020)
- 25- to 34-year-olds follow next at 23%. (Forbes, 2020)
Europe
- In Poland, Zoom experienced a peak of 1.3 million downloads in March 2020. This coincides with the beginning of strict quarantine implementations across the globe. (AppMagic, 2021)
- 1.7 million users – the peak number of daily active users in the UK for both Android and iOS in 2020. (Airnow, 2020)
- In Italy, Zoom had 11,706 users on Android in February 2020, a month before the coronavirus outbreak. Later in March 2020, the number of users surged to 136,497. (Airnow, 2020)
- Italian iOS users of Zoom were around 13,464 only in February 2020. One month later that figure surged to 40,127. (Airnow, 2020)
- When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Zoom garnered 604.7 million downloads on Android and 400.1 thousand downloads on the Apple App Store in France. (Airnow, 2021)
- French downloads of the app went up to 353.75 thousand on Google Play and 244.51 on Apple App Store. (Airnow, 2021)
- Zoom was often mentioned by social media users in France between March and May 2020 (46%). This was during the confinement period. (Digimind, 2020)
- After the confinement period in France, Zoom had a 79.1% share of social media mentions. (Digimind, 2020)
- Zoom.us traffic hit 472.51 thousand in Romania in April 2020. (SEMrush, 2020)
- Traffic in Poland for Zoom.us hit 669.33 thousand in April 2020. In contrast, Trello had 1.2 million traffic. (SEMrush, 2020)
- 30% of survey respondents in Sweden use Zoom. (Internetstiftelsen, 2020)
- Of those, 61% are students, 30% are workers, and 13% are retired individuals. (Internetstiftelsen, 2020)
- Zoom enjoyed big growth in Hungary. At the end of April 2020, traffic from the country hit 262.57 thousand. (SEMrush, 2020)
Americas
- 36.23% of respondents in the United States said they use Zoom as a remote work software. (StaffingHub, 2020)
- 41% of survey respondents in Mexico used Zoom for video or audio calls at the height of the coronavirus pandemic (May 2020). (PQR Planning Quant, 2020)
- In June 2020, 67% of Argentina’s internet users utilized Zoom for remote work. Meanwhile, 51% preferred WhatsApp’s group call feature. (Carrier y Asoc., 2020)
- 32% of smartphone users in Brazil use Zoom for video calls. In comparison, WhatsApp is preferred by 93% of respondents. (Mobile Time, 2020)
Asia-Pacific
- Zoom Cloud Meeting had 1.87 million users on Android in South Korea in March 2020. (Naver, 2020)
- In the previous month, there were only 180,000 users in South Korea on Android. (Naver, 2020)
- As of April 2021, 27% of Zoom downloads are located in India. (AppMagic, 2021)
- Zoom.us traffic in Russia reached 2.3 million during the period of October 2019 to April 2020. (SEMrush, 2020)
- 82% of Indonesian respondents used Zoom for work-from-home communications, as of May 2020. (JakPat, 2020)
- 35% of Japanese enterprises in Japan use Zoom. (MM Research Institute, 2020)
Zoom Fatigue Statistics
Yes, Zoom fatigue is all too real. According to a researcher, it is due to the fact that social interaction on a videoconference is radically different. In particular, eye contact is extended. The following Zoom fatigue statistics also explore who is most affected and the factors that contribute to this new health trend.
- Some people have as many as nine or ten video meetings in a day. (CNBC, 2021)
- Zoom meeting statistics reveal that the solution has registered 3.3 trillion annual meeting minutes. (Backlinko, 2020)
- The platform has recorded over 45 billion annual webinar minutes. (Backlinko, 2020)
- A study showed that videoconferencing requires less than 10% of the energy needed for an in-person meeting. (Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2021)
- When it comes to personal space, anything closer than 60 cm is already considered intimate. (Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2021)
- The amount of eye gaze on Zoom is eight times higher compared to a physical conference. (Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2021)
- People raise their volumes by 15% when speaking on video. (Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2021)
- A 1.2-second delay in a person’s response makes other people perceive them to be unfriendly or unfocused. (TED, 2020)
- Zoom fatigue affects 14% of women. (CBS News, 2021)
- In comparison, only 5.5% of men reported feeling the affliction. (CBS News, 2021)
Source: CBS News, 2021
Zoom Revenue Statistics
Zoom’s value skyrocketed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When once it was a near non-entity, it immediately became one of the most used applications for video conferencing. That is thanks to the 75% of people who work from home either entirely or most of the time.
- Zoom ended Q1 2021 with $663.52 million in earnings. (Zoom, 2021)
- It is projected to have a revenue of $882.49 million when Q4 2021 closes. (Zoom, 2021)
- By the end of Q4 2020, Zoom had revenue of $151.4 million in the Americas. (Zoom, 2021)
- The company earned $31.3 million in Asia-Pacific and $51.3 million in Europe, Middle East, and Africa in the same period. (Zoom, 2021)
- Zoom user statistics reveal that the company has a 5.5% share of the global unified communications and collaboration market at the end of Q4 2020. (IDC, 2021)
- At the end of March 2020, Zoom stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Market were priced $128.2. (Yahoo! Finance, 2021)
- A year later, the price of Zoom shares reached $321.29. It shot up 2.5 times its value in the previous year. (Yahoo! Finance, 2021)
- Zoom’s highest peak on the stock market was $559, which it hit on October 12, 2020. (Yahoo! Finance, 2021)
- Zoom shares dropped by 8.7% in April 2020 after it retracted claims that it had 300 million daily active users. (CNBC, 2020)
Zoom Development and Issues
Despite the success of his company, Eric Yuan continues to drive research and development in Zoom. The organization has been increasing its R&D expense steadily since Q1 2019. By the end of Q4 2021, they expect to spend $52.4 million on R&D.
- Zoom spent $26.4 million for R&D at the close of Q1 2020. (Zoom, 2021)
- It has a latency of below 150 milliseconds. (Business of Apps, 2020)
- Eric Yuan’s company employs 40% more people in China compared to the previous year. (TechNode, 2020)
- The video and audio calling solution is banned in at least two countries for official or business purposes: Canada and Taiwan. (Business of Apps, 2020)
- At least four government agencies in three different countries ban Zoom: NASA, German Foreign Ministry, United States Senate, and Australian Defense Force. (TechRepublic, 2020)
- There are 130,000 subdomains connected to Zoom.us, which, according to security experts, should concern users who are worried about privacy. (The Register, 2020)
- More than 15,000 Zoom meeting videos have been posted online on YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms without people’s knowledge. (The Washington Post, 2020)
Countries or Regions Where Zoom is Restricted (Zoom, 2021)
This is based on the US government’s list of sanctioned countries. Zoom cites regulatory reasons as the rationale for the restriction.
- Cuba
- Iran
- North Korea
- Syria
- Ukraine (Crimea Region)
Source: Zoom, 2021
Zoom Most Popular Features
Zoom has become one of the most popular video conferencing tools globally, and its success can largely be attributed to the variety of features that cater to different user needs. Here’s a look at some of the most popular and widely used features of Zoom:
- Breakout Rooms: Breakout rooms allow hosts to split participants into smaller groups during a meeting. This feature is handy in educational settings, team-building activities, and business discussions where smaller groups must collaborate privately before reconvening.
- Virtual Backgrounds: The virtual background feature has gained tremendous popularity, particularly during remote work and online classes. It allows users to set an image or video as their background, providing privacy and helping maintain a professional environment in informal settings.
- Webinars: Zoom’s webinar feature is designed for larger virtual events, offering tools for one-to-many communication. It allows users to host large-scale webinars with registration options, polls, and Q&A sessions, making it ideal for events, conferences, and training sessions.
- Screen Sharing: Screen sharing is essential for collaborative work. It allows participants to share their screens with others, making it easier to present slides, documents, or designs in real-time during meetings.
- Recording Options: Zoom allows users to record meetings, which is a valuable feature for both business and education purposes. Recordings can be saved to local storage or the cloud, providing easy access for later reference.
- Live Transcription: Zoom offers live transcription during meetings for accessibility and convenience. This feature automatically generates subtitles for spoken words in real time, helping participants who are hearing-impaired or who need a text record of the meeting.
- Chat and Messaging: The chat feature lets participants communicate via text during a meeting. Private and group messaging options make sharing links, notes, and resources easier without interrupting the speaker.
- Integrated Scheduling: Zoom integrates with calendars like Google and Outlook, allowing users to schedule meetings directly from their calendar apps. This seamless integration helps save time and minimizes scheduling conflicts.
Zooming In
Zoom would not have been born had founder Eric Yuan not doggedly pursue the idea of a frictionless video conferencing software. It is so easy that hosts could start meetings in a few steps. Compare that to similar solutions where users would fumble looking for features and buttons all over the place.
This was a boon to many when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Not everyone was already familiar with a virtual meeting solution, though they may have heard of Skype and some of its alternatives.
Despite how helpful it has been though, Zoom gave rise to new problems. One researcher has dubbed an affliction: Zoom fatigue. This occurs when people become physically and mentally tired from all the Zoom meetings they have to deal with in a day or in a week.
This came about because of the extended eye contact and the need to stay on one screen. On top of that, users would see themselves in a small window on the screen all the time. That has led to some feeling overly conscious about their appearances and eventually become insecure.
Stanford offers a few simple solutions such as reducing the Zoom window size, hide self-view, get a rest during and in-between meetings, and audio-only breaks. Applying virtual meeting etiquette may help, too. Of course, this concern also applies to other solutions.
Zoom statistics demonstrate that it is not going away and is going to continue being one of the go-to video conferencing platforms. In that case, users need to stay informed about its privacy and security policies owing to the company’s reported vulnerabilities. It may be free, but it does come with a cost—one that most people are unaware of.
Key Insights
- Rapid Growth: Zoom experienced exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 300 million daily active participants by April 2020.
- Diverse User Base: The platform has a broad range of users, including educational institutions, religious organizations, and small businesses. The United States comprises 50% of its user base.
- Global Reach: Zoom saw significant increases in downloads and usage across various countries, particularly in Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.
- Zoom Fatigue: Extended eye contact and constant self-view during meetings contribute to Zoom fatigue, affecting users’ physical and mental well-being.
- Revenue Surge: Zoom’s revenue skyrocketed during the pandemic, with significant earnings in Q1 2021 and projected continued growth.
- Privacy and Security Issues: Despite its popularity, Zoom faces challenges with privacy and security, with bans in several countries and reported incidents of unauthorized meeting video postings.
- Ongoing Development: The company continues to invest in research and development to improve its platform, indicating a commitment to growth and innovation.
FAQ
- What led to Zoom’s sudden popularity? Zoom’s user-friendly interface and the global shift to remote work and online education during the COVID-19 pandemic led to its sudden popularity. The platform’s ease of use and reliable performance made it a go-to solution for virtual communication.
- Who are the primary users of Zoom? Zoom is widely used by educational institutions, small businesses, religious organizations, and various industries. It is particularly popular in the United States, which accounts for 50% of its user base.
- What is Zoom fatigue and how can it be mitigated? Zoom fatigue refers to the physical and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged video meetings. It can be mitigated by reducing the Zoom window size, hiding self-view, taking breaks between meetings, and incorporating audio-only breaks.
- How has Zoom’s revenue been affected by the pandemic? The pandemic significantly boosted Zoom’s revenue, with the company reporting $663.52 million in earnings for Q1 2021. The platform’s widespread adoption for remote work and education contributed to this financial growth.
- What privacy and security issues has Zoom faced? Zoom has faced several privacy and security challenges, including unauthorized sharing of meeting videos and bans in certain countries for official use. Users are advised to stay informed about Zoom’s security policies and take necessary precautions to protect their data.
- What are some of the key statistics regarding Zoom’s usage? Key statistics include 300 million daily active participants in April 2020, 1.90 billion website visits, and a leading market share of 38.21% in web conferencing software. The platform is also notably popular among adults aged 35 to 49.
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