Kakao to launch webtoon service Piccoma in France

Kakao Corp. announced Sunday that it plans to launch the European version of its webtoon subscription service in either April or May of this year.

Japanese subsidiary Kakao Japan Corp. developed the service Piccoma, the archipelago’s No. 1 ranked webtoon subscription service. 

PICCOMA FRANCE

The announcement signals the growing competition between South Korea’s two tech giants, Kakao and Naver Corp. over the global online content and entertainment industry.

Japanese mangas take up about 30% of total comic book sales in France. Kakao established Piccoma’s Europe office in France in Sept. 2021 and has been setting up shop there since then. 

Initially, Kakao was widely expected by industry insiders to open up its France office in the latter half of this year. A person familiar with the development told The Korea Economic Daily that the change in schedule reflects the rapidly increasing competition among webtoon platform operators in global markets. 

Naver’s webtoon service began as an in-house startup (CIC) of Naver in 2004. Expanding on this model, Naver Webtoon Corp. was established in May 2017.

Naver Webtoon has maintained the No. 1 position in the number of comics-related paid app downloads in France’s Google Play since Jan. 2020, based on data compiled by app data analysis platform App Annie.

In second place is Tappytoon, a webtoon and web novel platform best known for translating Korean comics. 

Last March, Naver Webtoon invested 33.4 billion won ($27.9 million) in Tappytoon, acquiring 25% of the platform operator Contents First. With the investment, Naver Webtoon became the latter’s largest shareholder. 

BRIDGEHEAD OF EUROPE

The Korean tech giants are targeting France to make inroads into the European market because of the country’s strategic importance to its neighbors when it comes to cultural consumption. The French comics market size reached $298 million last year, the continent's biggest. 

It is projected to grow 3-4% each year to reach $346 million by 2025. 

COVID-19 has increased the demand for webtoons in France. In Feb. 2021, the country’s leading newspaper Le Parisien selected digital comics as the leading trend among French youth.

Since webtoons only account for 2-3% percent of the overall comics market, experts say the potential for growth is high. 

The two companies are pursuing different strategies. 

Naver is focusing its efforts on invigorating the local online comics ecosystem. 

It is incorporating the know-how from its successful launch in the United States. In June 2020, Naver launched Canvas, a platform on which amateur creators can publish their comics for free. Once a product gains enough traction, the author earns the opportunity to publish on Naver Webtoon. 

Kakao is focusing its efforts on customizing its Korean and Japanese webtoons’ intellectual property to cater to local preferences. 

At the time of its entry into Japan, the company has successfully localized South Korean content such as Solo Leveling and Itaewon Class.

A Kakao employee familiar with the upcoming plans said Piccoma France is working on elevating the quality of its lineup and has already secured webtoons that have yet to debut outside of Japan. 

Write to Minki Koo, So-hyun Lee at kook@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.