As the new Coronavirus spreads across the globe, we have seen increasingly shocking numbers in every stock market and economy of the globe; markets are shaking and the reality of a widespread economic recession is for many a fact of life. At least, that is the view of the S&P 500 indicator, which registered falls of up to 24% [1] in March alone. The COVID-19 has pushed to its financial limits both individuals and companies that must face the challenge of coping with the emergency and surviving or else just giving up.
Although the outlook does not seem to be the best these days, the saying “in times of crisis some cry and others sell handkerchiefs” also seems to be true, as the context lends itself as a golden opportunity for companies that provide remote services, especially if technology is involved.
In recent days we have seen how technology companies focus on video conferencing services, e-learning, food delivery and entertainment, among others, are taking advantage of the situation and marking a stunning growth in their numbers.
The Zoom case.
One of the companies that have taken the most advantage of this situation is Zoom. In the week of March 14–21th alone, it registered 62 million downloads around the world. This sudden increase in users led the platform to register an increase of 80 USD per share, from 70 USD (January) to 150 USD on March 31, which is equivalent to an increase of more than 200% in its stock valuation and making Eric Yuan, its founder, one of the richest young people [2] in the world.
Chart taken from Forbes [3]
House Party also gets on the bus.
The boom in streaming has also allowed applications such as House Party (https://houseparty.com/) to emerge from anonymity and establish itself as one of the most downloaded apps to support informal video calls, where there is also a component of interactivity focused on games. In February, the app reported 150,000 downloads, reaching 2 million between March 14th and 21st. [4]
Chart taken from Techcrunch
As well as House Party, other video streaming platforms are also taking advantage of the context and positioning themselves with more and more users. Such is the Caribu case (https://caribu.com/) which allows video calls with children’s content such as readings and games.
Our own experience.
In September 2019, from Pluriza, we successfully completed the development of a prototype application similar to Caribu. This application is Beclose. Our clients, two successful Colombian entrepreneurs, were looking to enter this market segment.
Beclose is a mobile application that encourages family relationships through interactive video calls. This tool seeks to create a space to play, read, learn and strengthen family ties between parents, children, siblings and / or grandparents who are not close.
The BeClose team is currently engaged in marketing and smart capital raising activities to enable product continuity and to continue with its strategic expansion plan.
It is available in the App Store for IOS and Google Play on Android.
Google Play: https://bit.ly/beclose-ios
Android: https://bit.ly/beclose-android
Conclusions.
Due to the social distancing and quarantine measures established around the world, video conferencing platforms have positioned themselves in the first places of downloads, their shares have been valued in the stock market and their sales are growing exponentially. While it is true that at this time there is no certainty of what awaits us in future months as humanity, it is also true that technology will most likely be part of that reality.
Those technology projects that are focused on satisfying the upcoming needs of the post-crisis era, and that are already functioning, will be those that grow exponentially and see the results of their investment represented in time and money.
Do you need a customized platform to make video calls?
At Pluriza, we have extensive experience developing applications and video streaming platforms.
If you want to know more about the projects we have done and if you want to explore how we can become your technology partner, do not hesitate to contact us. More than a provider, we want to become your partner!
Bibliography links
1. Yahoo Finanzas — https://finance.yahoo.com/ The Guardian — https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/31/zoom-booms-as-demand-for-video-conferencing-tech-grows-in-coronavirus-outbreak Gráfico 2. Forbes: El CEO de Zoom está dando gratis a colegios su herramienta de videoconferencias — https://forbes.co/2020/03/13/negocios/el-ceo-de-zoom-esta-dando-gratis-a-colegios-su-herramienta-de-videoconferencias/
3. Cómo la aplicación viral “Houseparty” está entreteniendo a una generación en el encierro — https://www.ft.com/content/c7ce2ad3-7276-4d8a-9deb-21acca871082
4. Las aplicaciones de videoconferencia vieron un récord de 62 millones de descargas durante una semana en Marzo. — https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/30/video-conferencing-apps-saw-a-record-62m-downloads-during-one-week-in-march/
