Daum, Naver go head-to-head in the mobile market
Daum, Naver go head-to-head in the mobile market
  • Chun Go-eun
  • 승인 2015.05.11 22:37
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South Korea’s two biggest online giants Daum Kakao and NAVER Corps are going head-to-head to preempt the mobile market as users are shifting away from personal computers to smartphones. The two Internet firms are buying promising local startups and launching new mobile services to attract more users.

South Korea's top portal operator Naver bought mobile secondhand transaction app in 2013. Having linked it with its popular secondhand online café, the app topped the list of mobile secondhand shopping malls last year. The firm is now aiming to jump into the global markets including Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand by connecting it with its hit mobile messenger platform LINE.

The Internet giant is also eyeing the promising launcher market – decorating the main view of smart devices. The firm bought Brain Pub, which made app to customize smartphones in 2013, and rolled out Dodol Launcher and is now competing with its rival Daum Kakao’s Buzz Launcher and Kakao Home.

Recently, Naver is focusing on “Hash Tag (#),” a type of label used on social network and microblogging services, which makes it easier for users to find messages with a specific them or content, in a bid to strengthen its mobile platform.

“As users shift away from personal computers to mobile phones, visual contents are becoming more important. Instead of small text letters within small devices, they are more attracted to images and videos,” Naver’s official said.

Korea's another IT giant Daum Kakao is also ramping up its efforts to buy promising local startups to preempt the mobile market. The firm set up K Ventures Group by spending 100 billion won in January to more aggressively buy local startups. In March, it acquired K Cube Ventures as an investment firm to hunt promising startups.

The firm recently bought Sell It, a maker of an app to transact secondhand tech products, through its subsidiary K Cube Ventures. This is their second attempts to purchase mobile app since it bought Kids Note in the late 2014, which specializes in mobile homework diaries used for kindergartens.

“The mobile secondhand platform has high growth potential. We are planning to expand startup investment to create more synergies with the specialty of Daum Kakao,” K Cube Ventures’ official said.

Similar to Naver’s efforts to unveil Hash Tag, Daum Kakao also recently launched “Plain,” exclusive mobile blog service, last month targeting the growing number of mobile users.

“We are trying to experiment diverse services targeting mobile users,” Daum Kakao’s official said.

“As the market trend and technology development is fast in the information technology industry, new growth engines are always required. Obtaining competitive edge to preempt the market is a key factor to the success of companies,” a market watcher said.

By Chun Go-eun (info@koreaittimes.com)


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