Zoom's exploded in popularity on a global scale. And nothing's a greater example of that than how the company gained so much traction in China, one of the most restricted countries in the world. The surge in usage happened during the novel Coronavirus period and allowed churches, feminists, along with other groups to communicate with the outside world - something one could reasonably deduct, China wasn't happy with. The video conferencing firm announced in May that it would suspend all new 'free' user registrations in China and restrict 'new' user signups to enterprise customers who sign up through third-party partners. Today, there's a clear timeline for what seems like Zoom's inevitable pull out of China, August 23, 2020. Here is the full statement I received via email from a Zoom spokesperson:
“Our go-to-market model in Mainland China has included direct sales, online subscription, and sales through partners. We are now shifting to a partner-only model with Zoom technology embedded in partner offerings, which will provide better local support to users in Mainland China. We informed our customers that this will take effect August 23, 2020 and recommended several authorized partners to them. Users in Mainland China may continue to join Zoom meetings as participants”
In June, Zoom released a statement saying it suspended the accounts of three U.S. and Hong Kong-based activists at the behest of Beijing after they tried to memorialize the anniversary of the events at Tiananmen Square. Zoom later restored their accounts. The same month, Zoom said it would place a heavier emphasis on India, and that it would triple its existing workforce in Mumbai, the country's financial district. New data centers would make an appearance in Bangalore and Hyderabad, according to the company.
The Chinese government had previously blocked the popular video conferencing system country-wide, a state where WhatsApp, Google Meet, and Facebook are all blocked. Zoom has faced domestic scrutiny for having routed some data through China after researchers initially discovered what happened. This prompted a decisive response from Zoom, and the company extended the option for users to choose where their data's sent.
All this brings us to today, where Zoom appears to have left little-to-no traces in the People's Republic of China. The company said it will rely on China-based partners Bizconf Communications, Suirui Zhumu Video Conference, and Systec Umeet to meet the needs of enterprise customers in the region.
Eric Yuan[/caption]
