Kakao Webtoon launches in Indonesia, to take over Kakao Page

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Kakao Webtoon launches in Indonesia, to take over Kakao Page

Published: 27 Apr. 2022, 15:47

Kakao Entertainment launched its Kakao Webtoon service in Indonesia on Wednesday. [KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT]

Kakao Webtoon officially launched in Indonesia on Wednesday, three weeks after Kakao announced its overseas expansion plans centered on the company’s web content businesses.

The new service comes as a rebranded version of the Kakao Page webtoon and web novel platform that was first offered in Indonesia. Both Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon are operated by Kakao Entertainment, an entertainment company 73.6-percent owned by Kakao.

Kakao Entertainment first jumped into the Indonesian web comics market by acquiring local service Neobazar in December 2018. The company then rebranded the service to Kakao Page in January 2020.

The new Kakao Webtoon service offers the same, existing works on the Kakao Page service and also provides its own new content, highlighting works that are seeing high views in Korea.

For the time being, both Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon will be available in Indonesia, and Kakao Page will terminate its service after giving existing users a certain period of time to make the transition to the new service, according to the company spokesperson.

This is the third Asian country in which Kakao Webtoon has launched, following Thailand and Taiwan where the service opened last year. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and an important market for the company’s global expansion, according to Kakao Entertainment.

“Indonesia carries an important meaning for Kakao Entertainment’s global vision, along with the North American region, and also holds great potential for Korean webtoons to succeed in,” said Charlie Park, the leader of Kakao Entertainment’s global business unit.

“Taking the success that we have made in North America, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan, Kakao Entertainment has set the blueprint for a successful launch in Indonesia. We will work to become a leading webtoon business with our premium stories and services.”

Kakao announced on April 6 that it plans to increase overseas sales to 30 percent of its total by 2025 from the current 10 percent, with a focus on the webtoon and entertainment businesses.

Kakao’s other global webtoon service Piccoma already has the biggest market share in the Japanese market. The service recently launched in France on March 17.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]