Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com (NMS: JD) has unveiled a video conferencing app, JoyMeeting, for iOS, 36Kr reported on Saturday.
While the app was previously an internal tool for JD.com employees, the company is now inviting their corporate clients and partners to use the currently invitation-only app, JD.com told KrASIA on Saturday.
The conferencing tool, whose single main feature is a video chat function, is expected to be part of a work collaboration platform that the e-commerce giant will begin testing publicly at the end of May—the details of which are still undisclosed.
JoyMeeting comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic forces many companies to go online to host large meetings. The crisis and newfound demand for online communication tools has triggered a wave of product launches in the workplace collaboration and conferencing industry.
TikTok owner ByteDance has made its entire workplace collaboration platform Feishu, which also includes a video conferencing function, free for all enterprises and organizations in the domestic market since late February, KrASIA reported.
Alibaba (NYQ:BABA), in addition to their work collaboration tool DingTalk which enables video conferencing, has also unveiled a specific video conferencing app called Ali Yuhuiyi in April.
On the other hand, Tencent (HKG: 0700) made its paid video conferencing tool, Tencent Meeting, free for companies until the pandemic ends, according to the website of Tencent Cloud.
The move is not entirely unexpected for JD.com. The e-commerce giant has recently turned to sales of technology and services, covering AI, big data, and cloud computing, as a core engine of growth for its future operations, according to CNBC.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.
