Apple’s Market Positioning in the Virtual Meeting Space

Stanford University - Business Strategy Seminar Analysis Paper | June 2021

Classes, meetings, concerts, and more relied Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Microsoft Teams to maintain some aspects of normal group interactions.

Apple has been quiet in this surge of software meant to fill the social void. The question then presents itself, should Apple enter the game with its own player? With Apple already occupying a position as a premium producer in the US and worldwide, and accomplishing what some may consider a cult brand loyalty, theoretically, joining the race in online-group gathering seems fruitful for their already large stake in the tech market.

COVID-19 has caused a massive necessity for online communication that can maneuver the existing volume of institutional gatherings.

To answer the question, “Should Apple enter the Online Group Meeting Industry?, ” there are a few important points to consider. First, Apple is technically already in the industry. Although they are not a dominant player and most people do not consider native FaceTime to be a competitor of Zoom, FaceTime does have the potential to be a player in the market.

We could expect a total rebranding of the new FaceTime to combat the technological features of Zoom and compete for users, if necessary. Because of the strong network effects and the inability to download Apple specific applications, like FaceTime or iBooks, on non-Apple devices, Apple should not try to compete with Zoom at head-to-head scale, by creating a new platform. Instead, Apple could benefit from adjusting FaceTime to operate similarly to Zoom, making it easier for group meetings, scheduling, and hosting.

Although profitability may not be there especially at first, their brand capital can make this an affordable, and worthy endeavor. Another interesting question would be Apple’s interest in acquiring Zoom. This way, they wouldn’t need to change FaceTime, they would gain the profits and users of Zoom, and ultimately remove the need to compete with another software company.  

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