With the limiting in-person interactions lately, video conferencing platforms have seen unprecedented growth globally as people look for new ways to stay connected while social distancing. In China, Tencent – the country’s largest internet company – has launched a Zoom-like app called Tencent Meeting that is quickly gaining popularity. Let’s take a deeper look at this new offering and what it means for the future of remote collaboration in China.
The Rise of Tencent Meeting
Launched in late March 2020 by Chinese tech giant Tencent, Tencent Meeting saw over 50 million installs in its first month. This impressive growth can be attributed to the rising demand for video conferencing solutions amid the coronavirus outbreak and country-wide lockdowns. According to recent reports, Tencent Meeting now has over 100 million users after just 2 months in operation. In comparison, Zoom – currently the most popular global video conferencing platform – saw a similar level of users over the course of 9 years since its launch. This illustrates the massive appetite for such services among China’s vast population during this period of social isolation and work-from-home arrangements.
Like its American counterpart Zoom, Tencent Meeting offers all the core functions needed for remote meetings including screen sharing, virtual white boarding, polls and surveys. However, it differentiates through tight integrations with Tencent’s other popular products like WeChat – China’s dominant messaging platform. Users can easily join Tencent Meeting calls directly from their WeChat accounts without needing to download or sign up to a separate app. This has certainly helped drive adoption among WeChat’s huge 1 billion+ user base.
Security and Privacy Improvements
While the sudden spike in usage has been lucrative for Tencent, it has also brought the app under greater scrutiny – especially after security issues surfaced on Zoom. In response, Tencent says it is prioritizing security and privacy enhancements on Meeting. Some key features include mandatory password protection for all meetings, virtual backgrounds to conceal user environments, and server data centers located exclusively within mainland China. The company is investing heavily in these initiatives having witnessed highly-publicized hacks and “zoombombing” incidents on Zoom over privacy loopholes. By addressing security proactively, Tencent hopes to differentiate their product and gain greater user trust than competitors – a critical factor for a service handling sensitive work communications.
Continued Innovation
Though already a commercial success, Tencent isn’t resting on its laurels. The company aims to sustain Meeting’s momentum through continued innovation in both features and business model. On the product front, it plans to introduce real-time translation across all languages supported by WeChat. This could help promote the app’s use in multilingual collaborations between Chinese and international clients. In addition, Tencent wants to blend Meeting with its other services like games and newsfeed to facilitate interactive remote meetings beyond conference calls. On the monetization side, it may offer premium subscriptions with enhanced service tier for enterprise customers dependent on adoption. Overall, Tencent’s cross-promotional strength and deep pockets position it well to drive the evolution of remote collaboration through constant upgrades to Meeting.
Outlook and Impact
With the post-pandemic future of work expected to incorporate greater flexibility and remote arrangements on a permanent basis, the demand for advanced video conferencing looks set to continue rising in China as well as globally. Though challenged by extensive regulations, Tencent Meeting’s integration within the country’s largest digital ecosystem gives it an edge over foreign competitors. This could see it emerge as the dominant platform of choice for professional communication needs within China.
Meanwhile, the success of Tencent’s fast-tracked venture into this new category demonstrates its capabilities and potential to develop compelling alternatives to Western tech products locally. Over the long run, this trend may allow China to achieve greater self-sufficiency and shape homegrown standards in strategically important technology domains like connectivity and collaboration.
