Naver, Kakao competing for no 1 position in Japanese web comic market
Mar 31, 2022
Seoul [South Korea], March 31 (ANI/Global Economic): South Korea's top-two internet companies, Naver and Kakao, are fiercely competing for Number 1 position in the Japanese web comic and web novel market.
According to the IT industry on March 30, Naver's subsidiary LINE Digital Frontier has been in the acquisition process of eBOOK Initiative Japan (EBIJ). It plans to complete the acquisition by the end of this month.
EBIJ established in 2000 is an e-book company of Japan's SoftBank Group operating an e-book platform 'eBook Japan.' The largest shareholder is SoftBank's Yahoo Japan (43.4 per cent). LINE Digital Frontier operates Naver Webtoon's Japanese service 'LINE Manga.' Naver's subsidiaries Webtoon Entertainment and Naver Webtoon have 70 per cent and 30 per cent of shares, respectively. Kim Joon-koo, CEO of Naver Webtoon, concurrently serves as CEO of the two companies.
The industry analyzed that Naver's acquisition of the e-book platform is to further strengthen its dominance in the Japanese e-book and web comic markets. In particular, Naver's LINE Manga is expected to regain its No.1 position in the Japanese web comic market, beating Kakao's Piccoma.
Naver also plans to accelerate its global business expansion in the European market by establishing a European business unit called 'Webtoon EU' (tentative) in France in the first half of this year. After the establishment of Webtoon EU, Naver Webtoon will secure business units in all major comic markets, including North America, Korea, Japan, and Europe.
Kakao is also actively expanding its share in the global market. Kakao Piccoma ranked No.1 in the Japanese webtoon market, beating Naver's LINE Manga. It plans to launch the new platform, dubbed Piccoverse, to solidify its top position and enter the other global markets.
Piccoverse is a platform that Japan's publishers can publish books in digital. Japan's major publishers will operate their own channel and generate profits by paid services. In Piccoverse, various Japanese publishers' books will be available on one platform.
Kakao Piccoma plans to enter France, Germany, and Spain, following Japan. Piccoma established a European unit in September last year and started the first European service in France on March 17. It aims to grow into a global digital comic platform.
In addition, Kakao Community will set up business strategies to maximize synergy with Kakao Piccoma. It is also considering combining with Kakao Games Japan. (ANI/Global Economic)
