On the 1st, Daum Webtoon revamped as Kakao Webtoon... Offering fresh user experience (UX) and AI
‘D&C Webtoon Biz Smart Store’ to launch in the second half, selling webtoon character goods
[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] D&C Media is challenging the webtoon market centered on Naver together with Kakao. While Kakao's new webtoon platform is generating anticipation, D&C Media is attempting business diversification using intellectual property (IP), raising expectations for synergy effects.
As of 9:18 AM on the 2nd, D&C Media recorded 46,650 KRW, up 1.93% (900 KRW) compared to the previous day. Last month, D&C Media also rose 5.07% over the month, continuing the upward trend of 20.65% seen in the first half of the year.
So far, performance has driven the stock price increase. D&C Media, which grew every quarter last year, is expected to show strong results in the second quarter of this year as well. On this day, Samsung Securities forecast D&C Media’s operating profit for Q2 to increase by 35.7% year-on-year to 4.3 billion KRW. In fact, D&C Media’s representative IP, "Solo Leveling," has accumulated 450 million views as of this day, and over 1 million copies of its Japanese volume have been sold.
However, the stock price rise in the second half of the year seems to be contributed by the aggressive moves of Kakao Entertainment, the second-largest shareholder. As of Q1 this year, 54.5% of D&C Media’s sales came from Kakao Entertainment. This means that D&C Media’s growth potential is determined by Kakao’s decision-making.
Meanwhile, Kakao has reorganized to catch up with Naver, which holds the number one position in the domestic webtoon market, providing D&C Media with additional growth momentum. On the 1st, Kakao Entertainment launched Kakao Webtoon in Korea, an expanded and revamped version of Daum Webtoon. Unlike the previous site that introduced webtoons with rectangular thumbnails, the industry evaluates that the inclusion of video trailers brought freshness. Additionally, an artificial intelligence (AI) recommendation feature was introduced, allowing readers to continuously access content tailored to their preferences.
D&C Media is also preparing an OSMU (One Source Multi Use) strategy that utilizes a single base content across multiple fields, aiming for synergy effects. In the second half of this year, it plans to open the "D&C Webtoon Biz Smart Store," which sells goods commercializing webtoon characters. Furthermore, within five years, it plans to release more than four animations and diversify revenue by producing games, dramas, and music.
Summarizing this, Samsung Securities revised D&C Media’s profit estimates. The operating profit estimate for this year remains largely unchanged at 18.8 billion KRW, but next year’s estimate was raised from 24.7 billion KRW to 25.8 billion KRW. Minha Choi, a researcher at Samsung Securities, forecasted, "The increased utilization of IP will lead to a larger scale of mid- to long-term profits and an extended period of profit generation."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
