A promotional image provided by Naver Webtoon.<\/p>\n
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) Foreign tech giants are entering the webtoon market, indicating a possible paradigm shift in the Korean-dominated industry.<\/p>\n
Last month, Amazon.com, Inc. launched Amazon Fliptoon, a webtoon service, on the Kindle Store. Additionally, Apple Books, an e-book platform powered by Apple Inc., launched a vertical reading manga column.<\/p>\n
South Korean webtoonproduction companies such as Kidari Studio andLezhin Comics are currently supplying content to Amazon Fliptoon, while Kenaz is working with Apple Books for web comics.<\/p>\n
This indicates that worldwide readers are becoming familiar with the South Korean webtoon system.<\/p>\n
South Korea is, in fact, the birthplace of webtoons.<\/p>\n
Content-wise, South Koreanweb-based comics have wider channels to engage with Japanese readers. However, the country may lose dominance in the webtoon platform industry.<\/p>\n
Unlike K-pop or K-drama, webtoons and their platforms have primarily been led by South Korean companies in the global market.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the industry is more or less unaffected by the incoming big-tech challengers.<\/p>\n
Kim Joon-ku, CEO of Naver Webtoon, stated in an open seminar last month that big-tech companies like Apple and others will struggle to compete with South Korean companies, adding that they already have a large pool of webtoon creators and readers.<\/p>\n
South Korean companies have invested considerable time in pooling local creators and have already become the worlds largest platform for both creators and readers.<\/p>\n
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)<\/p>\n
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Read the original post:<\/p>\n
Foreign Tech Giants Challenge S. Korea's Dominance in Webtoon ... - The Korea Bizwire<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A promotional image provided by Naver Webtoon. SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) Foreign tech giants are entering the webtoon market, indicating a possible paradigm shift in the Korean-dominated industry Continue reading