K-Webtoons Captivate Japan, Kakao Japan's 'Piccoma' Turns Profitable

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao Japan's comic platform 'Piccoma' continues its rapid growth, with transaction volume more than doubling for three consecutive years. Operating profit turned positive in the fourth quarter of last year, and an annual profit is expected this year as well.

According to Kakao on the 19th, Piccoma was launched in April 2016, and its annual transaction volume increased 14-fold in 2017, followed by growth of 156% in 2018 and 130% in 2019.

The growth of Piccoma was driven by Korean-style business models such as webtoons. The Japanese comic market is centered on paper comics and digital comics that are digitized versions of paper comics. Piccoma not only distributes digital comics but also webtoons created for mobile devices, allowing users to enjoy both paid and free content, establishing a unique business model.

Kakao explained, "As the tendency to consume snack culture content on smartphones has strengthened, even users who normally did not read comics have come to access webtoons through Piccoma," adding, "It is playing a role in expanding the overall size of the comic industry."

The Piccoma mobile app is approaching a total of 20 million downloads. On the 3rd, among the approximately 20,000 works available on Piccoma, the daily transaction volume of 277 webtoons reached a record high of 31.96 million yen (360 million KRW).

Korean creators' 'K-webtoons' are also playing a significant role. D&C Media's webtoon 'Solo Leveling' entered the Japanese market through Piccoma, surpassing 1 million cumulative readers and was selected as the number one webtoon in Piccoma's 'Best of 2019.' In March of this year, its monthly transaction volume exceeded 1 billion KRW, establishing itself as a representative webtoon in both Korea and Japan.

Kim Jaeyong, CEO of Kakao Japan, stated, "Piccoma applied Korean content business models such as 'Wait and Free' to Japan's huge comic market, leading the industry's digitalization and overall growth. Recently, K-webtoons verified through KakaoPage and Daum Webtoon are gaining popularity in Japan through Piccoma, rivaling local works, which is expected to drive even higher growth."