Piccoma sees record transaction value in Japan on K-webtoons

Piccoma, a Japanese digital comics app, enjoyed its largest-ever transaction value last year in the home of manga, thanks to the growing popularity of its high-quality cartoons, especially South Korean webtoons, its operator Kakao piccoma Corp. said on Monday.

Kakao piccoma, a Japanese subsidiary of South Korean mobile giant Kakao Corp., said Piccoma’s transaction value exceeded 100 billion yen ($675.2 million) in 2023, for the first time since its launch in April 2016. The app is the only digital comic service platform worldwide with such a milestone, according to the company.

Piccoma also topped the consumer spending ranking in the world’s third-largest Japanese mobile app market. In the global market, Piccoma ranked No. 17 for all apps and No. 7 for apps excluding games, on which users usually spend more, following TikTok, YouTube, Disney+, Tinder, Google One and HBO Max, according to a mobile app market analysis firm data.ai.

“We will do our utmost to further develop the global comic industry by connecting users with more content for their enjoyment and laughter,” said Kakao piccoma CEO Kim Jaeyong.

HIGH-QUALITY WEBTOONS

Piccoma has been steadily growing in Japan as it provided not only digital manga, comics or graphic novels originating from the country, but also various high-quality webtoons from South Korea and China, Kakao piccoma said.

South Korean webtoons such as “Doctor Elise” and "Princess of the Animals" were among the top picks by Japanese digital comic fans.

"Doctor Elise" was reproduced as an animated film series in cooperation between South Korea and Japan to be aired on the latter country’s TV channels.

South Korean webtoons are increasingly popular in Japan, helping Kakao piccoma’s larger rival Naver Webtoon Ltd., the world’s top digital comics provider, enjoy record gross merchandise value (GMV) last year.

Meanwhile, Kakao piccoma also introduced a Japanese-produced cartoon in South Korea.

The company serialized “I Quit the Hero’s Party” produced by its Japanese subsidiary Studio1pic Corp. on KakaoPage in South Korea.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at 2juhyun@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.