[IPO Spotlight] Annual 'Half-Price Fee' Benefits for 30,000 Companies... 14.3% 'One Store' Rebellion

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] One Store, which is preparing to enter the KOSPI market in the first half of this year, has implemented a 'half-price commission' policy, benefiting approximately 30,000 app contents annually with commission fee reductions.

According to the IT and investment banking (IB) industry on the 21st, One Store, selected by SK Square as its first subsidiary for an initial public offering (IPO), has been implementing a policy since October 2020 through the end of 2021 that reduces commissions by 50% for businesses with monthly transaction amounts under 5 million KRW.

A One Store representative stated, "The 'half-price commission' policy was implemented with the intention of significantly reducing the burden on small and medium-sized developers, for whom commissions account for one-third of operating profit. Over the past year, this commission reduction policy was applied to about 30,000 apps." This means that roughly one-tenth of the apps listed on One Store received the half-price commission benefit.

One Store charges a 20% commission on in-app payments (using One Store’s payment system) and a 5% commission on non-in-app payments (using the app developer’s own payment system). Considering that Google and Apple’s in-app and non-in-app payment commissions are estimated to be in the 26-30% range, One Store’s commission policy is regarded as relatively favorable.

One Store, which adopts a strategy of 'growth through coexistence,' has shown steady performance growth since implementing its commission reduction policy in 2018. It has gained a reputation as a user-friendly platform by offering developers commission savings and returning 10% of payment amounts to consumers as mobile carrier points.

In terms of sales, revenue rose from 110.3 billion KRW in 2018 to 135.1 billion KRW in 2019, and 155.2 billion KRW in 2020. During the same period, net income turned from a loss of 13.9 billion KRW in 2018 to a profit of 2 billion KRW in 2020, achieving profitability within a short time.

As of February 2022, One Store’s market share stood at 14.3%, showing a significant gap compared to Google Play’s 70.3%. It is also relatively lower than Apple App Store’s 15.5%, which ranks second.

By lowering commissions as part of its coexistence strategy, One Store has attracted an increasing number of developers, achieving notable listing results. It particularly stands out in the gaming sector. As of 2021, 24 out of the top 50 games by sales were listed on One Store. The proportion of top games listed is increasing annually.

A representative example of listing success is Wemade’s 'Mir4.' Mir4 was simultaneously released on multiple app markets, including One Store, from the start. Since its launch, Mir4 has ranked first in sales on One Store for four consecutive months, demonstrating better performance on One Store compared to other app markets and proving the platform’s potential for success.

Other popular titles such as Nexon’s 'Blue Archive,' Kuga Games’ 'Three Kingdoms Strategy,' Nexon’s 'The Kingdom of the Winds: Yeon,' Devsisters’ 'Cookie Run Kingdom,' and NPIXEL’s 'Gran Saga' have also been listed on One Store and achieved commercial success. Additionally, Blizzard Entertainment’s globally renowned 'Diablo Immortal' is scheduled for release on One Store this year.

If One Store enters the KOSPI market as planned within the first half of this year, it will become the first listed company among SK Square’s subsidiaries. One Store plans to use the funds raised through the IPO to expand existing business areas and pursue global expansion.

One Store intends to strengthen its story content sector. Believing that securing competitive original intellectual property (IP) is a key asset in the content business, One Store plans to build a content value chain covering story content production, distribution, and one source multi-use (OSMU).

It is expected that One Store’s original IP will be developed into games and utilized in various other ways in the future. Last year, One Store acquired 'Rock Media,' the largest genre content publisher in Korea, and invested in 'Kuaikan,' China’s largest webtoon platform, laying the foundation for IP discovery.

To overcome the limitations of a local app market, One Store is also developing a global version of its platform in partnership with Microsoft. It is considering the Southeast Asian market, where Korean games are popular, and plans to apply the same 20% in-app payment commission as in Korea while accommodating locally popular payment methods to differentiate itself.

A One Store representative said, "We aim to create an environment where shareholders become users and users become shareholders," adding, "We are reviewing various coexistence measures with small and medium-sized developers, the foundation of the development industry, and plan to announce related details in the future."