World Cup Followed by SNL... Coupang Play OTT Surge

4x Users... 5th Largest Domestic Market
Capturing Wow Members with Exclusive Content

Last weekend, 'SNL Korea' aired its first episode.

Coupang Play is making waves in the domestic online video service (OTT) market. The number of users has nearly quadrupled compared to January of this year when the service was fully launched. The strategy of steadily strengthening original content since the release, including the first broadcast last weekend of ‘SNL Korea (Saturday Night Live Korea),’ has proven effective. Coupang plans to continuously increase differentiated content available only on Coupang Play across various fields such as sports, education, entertainment, and drama, so the number of users is expected to grow further in the future.

According to Mobile Index by data company IGAWorks on the 9th, Coupang Play recorded 1.83 million monthly active users (MAU) last month based on Android and iPhone (iOS) smartphones. Considering that the number of users was 520,000 in January this year after its launch in December last year, this represents a growth rate exceeding 250% in just seven months.

This is a top-five performance in the domestic OTT market where major content companies and telecommunications firms compete fiercely. According to app analytics service WiseApp, the OTT with the most users in Korea in July was Netflix with 9.1 million users, followed by Wavve, TVING, U+ Mobile TV, and then Coupang Play. Coupang Play has already surpassed competing OTTs that started earlier, such as Watcha (1.51 million users) and Season (1.41 million users). The gap with the third and fourth places, which have around 2 million users, is not large, so if the current growth trend continues, it is analyzed that Coupang Play could overtake them within the year.

This achievement is the result of Coupang’s continuous investment and efforts to secure original content available only on Coupang Play. In the sports field, Coupang Play is digitally live-streaming the final qualifiers of the national soccer team for the World Cup. It has signed an official partnership contract with the Korea Football Association (KFA) and is producing original content that captures the national soccer team’s challenge toward the World Cup. Strengthening educational content is also considered a unique competitive advantage of Coupang Play. It provides educational content produced by Damureo Club, Hackers, YBM, and EBSLang, and recently added educational content targeting adults from Pagoda, Eduwill, and Moonjeonga Chinese. These lectures, which were previously paid, are now available for free to Wow Membership members.

Also, Coupang Play received favorable reviews for broadcasting its first entertainment show, ‘SNL Korea,’ last weekend. Lee Byung-hun appeared as the host for the first episode, becoming the center of attention, and Ha Ji-won and Jo Jung-suk are scheduled to appear in the second and third episodes. In drama, Coupang Play plans to present ‘One Day (working title)’ starring Kim Soo-hyun and Cha Seung-won.

Industry insiders expect that although Coupang Play started as an additional service provided to Coupang Wow Membership members, over time it will emerge as a pillar of the Coupang ecosystem, with some users joining the membership specifically to watch Coupang Play content. The ‘lock-in effect,’ which ties existing consumers through various services, is also expected to be strengthened. Coupang’s strategy is to create a virtuous cycle where Wow membership subscriptions increase and repurchase rates rise. Kim Seong-han, General Director of Coupang Play, said, "We will continue to strive to bring joy to customers’ daily lives through differentiated content unique to Coupang Play."