[Click eStock] "DearU, Growing Alongside Expansion of Artist Fandom"

On the 11th, Samsung Securities forecasted that the number of subscribers to DearU will naturally increase alongside the strengthening position of K-POP artists in the global music market.

Minha Choi, a researcher at Samsung Securities, stated in a report on the same day, "The second quarter sales reached 19.1 billion KRW (+64% YoY) and operating profit was 6.7 billion KRW (+94.3% YoY), meeting consensus estimates," and analyzed, "The effect of the asset transfer contract to acquire all IP rights of 'Universe' at the beginning of the year also appeared in the second quarter."

Researcher Choi explained, "The average number of subscribers in the second quarter recorded 2.25 million, an increase of 200,000 compared to the previous quarter," and added, "55% of the net increase in subscribers in the first half came from existing Bubble service artists, while the net increase effect brought by the acquisition of Universe IP rights accounted for about 45%."

He also said, "DearU is preparing the 'Bubble for Japan' service through collaboration with Japanese fan platform operator m-up holdings, and completed the establishment of a JV last May," and forecasted, "The China business is also being prepared for launch through discussions with local partners, and digital item services such as 'handwriting' and 'emoticons' are scheduled to be added in September, which is expected to increase ARPU through additional revenue generation beyond existing subscription income."

He added, "As K-POP artists are growing their presence in the global music market, the number of DearU subscribers is also expected to naturally increase alongside."