Amid the expansion of tech giants into the realm of digital comics, the CEO of WEBTOON is unwavering in his belief that his company possesses the tools for triumph, even in the face of industry heavyweights such as Apple and Amazon, ThePopVerse reported.
Recent developments reveal that Amazon Japan has entered the scene with its novel vertical scroll comic format named Fliptoon. Apple Japan too has unveiled a vertical reading manga page exclusively in its Apple Books store. These initiatives underscore the broader recognition of vertical scroll comics beyond the confines of dedicated fan communities. Nevertheless, WEBTOON Entertainment’s CEO, Kim Junkoo, remains unperturbed by the intensifying competition. In fact, he appears to embrace the challenge.
Elaborating on the intricacies of establishing a successful webtoon platform, Junkoo remarked recently in an interview with Reuters: “Creating a [webtoon] platform requires expertise in serial services, precise user targeting, an appropriate business model, user education… This demands time and effort. However, even with considerable investments of time, replicating the creator economy we’ve meticulously constructed is a formidable task.”
WEBTOON undeniably boasts an impressive assemblage of both creators and enthusiasts, globally amassing 85.6 million users by the second quarter of 2022. Notably, approximately 80 percent of this demographic is under the age of 30. The platform has cultivated a community of around 900,000 creators as of January 2023, alongside a wealth of insights into reader demographics and engagement patterns.
Producing webtoons also incurs minimal costs, requiring only a tablet and stylus, often handled by a single individual. In South Korea, creators who diligently released weekly webtoon installments across diverse platforms witnessed a surge in earnings. As per data provided by the Korea Creative Content Agency, these creators saw their average income escalate to 118.7 million won ($89,157.62) in 2022, a significant rise from 81 million won in 2021.
Notably, additional revenue streams such as substantial earnings from paid views, merchandise sales, and advertisements, encompassing lucrative product placements, contribute to their financial success. According to Webtoon Entertainment, South Korean creators who maintained a weekly episode schedule on their platform during 2020 achieved an average income of 460 million won ($345,833.46) that year, inclusive of earnings from sponsored collaborations.
Junkoo expounded, “In the past, a $10 million intellectual property sale might have led to considerations of producing a film. Today, when we achieve such a milestone, we possess comprehensive data elucidating the audience—generational segments, consumption patterns, geographic reach, and more.”
Collectively, these factors converge to paint the portrait of a fledgling enterprise poised not merely to rival industry behemoths, but to surpass them. Alternatively, as Junkoo phrased it, “If prominent tech corporations genuinely intend to flourish in the realm of IP creation, acquisition of our company might be their most viable route forward.”
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
