Topcomedia Establishes 'Topco Japan'... "Entering the 7 Trillion Won Japanese Market"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Topco Media announced on the 24th that it has resolved to establish a 100% subsidiary in Japan, ‘Topco Japan,’ to directly enter the Japanese webtoon content market.

This is the first project undertaken as part of business diversification following Topco’s acquisition of Topco Media (formerly DMT). Topco has already entered the Japanese webtoon content market through distribution agencies, generating steady distribution revenue annually. However, through Topco Japan, the company plans to build and operate a webtoon platform within Japan. Currently, Topco directly builds and operates platforms in Taiwan and North America.

Yoo Jung-seok, CEO of Topco Media, stated, “Japan is the country with the largest comic market in the world, and the transition to online webtoon content is progressing rapidly. To respond to this market, our company will establish a subsidiary in Japan and directly enter the Japanese webtoon content market.” He added, “Through this, we will begin business diversification and a full-fledged transformation into a content company.”

Topco has already confirmed the potential for success in webtoon content, having achieved first place overall with a serialized work on ‘Comic Shimoa,’ an electronic comic platform operated by Japan’s largest telecommunications company NTT. Based on this webtoon content and experience in building and operating webtoon platforms, Topco Media plans to officially start its entry into the Japanese market.

According to the 2021 Comic Industry White Paper published by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the Japanese comic market grew by 38.8% compared to the previous year in 2020, reaching $6.536 billion (approximately 7.8 trillion KRW), and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 12.3% over the next five years, expanding to $11.675 billion by 2025. The Japanese digital comic market’s share of the total Japanese comic market rapidly increased from 33.6% in 2016 to 55.8% in 2020.