Naver aims for 1 billion users globally by 2026

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, held at Naver Green Factory in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [NEWS1]

Naver is speeding overseas expansion with the goal of 1 billion global users and annual sales of 15 trillion won ($12.2 billion) by 2026.

The company held a press conference on Wednesday at its headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, releasing details of its 5-year global market strategy with a focus on content and e-commerce.

Naver aims to achieve annual sales of 15 trillion won in the next five years, which is more than double the last year's 6.8 trillion won. Overseas sales will make up 50 percent of total revenue by 2026, a 10-percentage-point increase from the current 40 percent, the company said.

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon explained that the company "has entered the third phase of its global expansion plan, Global 3.0," and is now on track to become a global service provider like Google, Amazon and Meta.

In its early stage of global market entrance through 2013, Naver's expansion strategy was centered on Tokyo-based Line, Choi explained. From 2014 to 2021, which the company describes as the second phase, Naver made inroads into the U.S. and European markets with aggressive investment strategies.

Last year, Naver poured about 2 trillion won into mergers and acquisitions, including a $600-million acquisition of the self-publishing website Wattpad.

As Naver now goes into the third phase, it plans to strengthen its content businesses, involving webtoons and web novels in North America, while focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) technology development at its European offices. In Japan, venture capital investments and e-commerce will take priority.

In the North American markets, the company's priority is the entertainment businesses, which include webtoons, web novels and their adaptations. Naver explained that it also plans to increase the number of service offerings from Weverse, a K-pop community website, in the U.S.

Weverse Company, which runs Weverse, is 51 percent owned by HYBE, and Naver holds the remaining 49 percent.

In the European market, Naver's primary focus is on establishing partnerships with the local companies in AI technology development, according to the company.

Naver will accelerate market entrance in Japan by making all of its services available to Japanese consumers this year, and also boost venture capital investments through Z Holdings. Z Holdings is run by A Holdings, which is half owned by Naver and half by SoftBank.

Naver aims to increase the number of global monthly active users to 1 billion by 2026. Naver's webtoon service, which is currently operating in North America, Europe and Asia, had about 82 million monthly active users as of January. Over 10 million users were from the North American region.

Journalists at the press conference were given a tour of Naver 1784.

The 28-story office building is next door to Naver Green Factory, the company's headquarters.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]