Zoom to stop direct sales in China, switch to partner-only model

Popular video-conferencing app Zoom has said it will halt the sale of its products in China except through locally-based partners. The move could be a fallout of the scrutiny over concerns of it sending user data to Beijing.

Zoom has announced that it will change its business model in China starting August 23. Sale of all its products will be conducted through authorised partners in China. “Our go-to-market model in mainland China has included direct sales, online subscription, and sales through partners. We are now shifting to a partner-only model with Zoom technology embedded in partner offerings, which will provide better local support to users,” Zoom said.

The San Jose, California-based US tech company recently came under scrutiny after it suspended the account of US-based group of Chinese pro-democracy activists. US senators had requested the Justice Department to investigate whether Zoom shares private information with the Chinese government.

Zoom previously came under fire for falsely marketing end-to-end encryption during video meetings. The company then announced that it will enable end-to-end encryption to all users, paid or not. Users will automatically obtain the encryption service unless they themselves have disabled it manually or the account administrator disables it.