Following the release of Zoom’s ‘Essential Apps’ portfolio;

Gregg Willsky, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Essential Apps provides important benefits in a cost-effective manner. However, the offer has numerous restrictions attached and will do little to move the needle from a competitive standpoint. While the concept of the offer is sound, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. Zoom needs to go back to the drawing board.

“Only 11 apps are available, and the free price expires after just one year. Eligibility is limited to paid Zoom One plan customers, the apps are supported only in English and not all of them work on mobile devices. At its core the introduction of Essential Apps is a pricing move delivering short term value as opposed to a platform enhancement yielding on-going benefits.

“Zoom should expand or rotate the pool of eligible applications and broaden the base of qualified customers. The company should also rethink the pricing specifications. One possibility is extending the zero-price time frame beyond one year, another is providing an ongoing, discounted rate on the apps. However, another option is combining both these approaches by making the apps free of charge for one year followed by an ongoing discounted rate.”