Naver Webtoon showcases a supersized digital advertisement of HYBE’s new webtoon and web novel “7 Fates: Chakho,” which features BTS, in Times Square, New York (Courtesy of Naver Webtoon) Naver Corp., South Korea’s online portal giant, decided to make an additional investment in a web content unit to expand its global webtoon and web novel business.Naver plans to contribute 397.5 billion won ($330 million) to Webtoon Entertainment Inc., its subsidiary in the US, according to a filing to a financial regulator on Thursday. Naver’s webtoon and web novel affiliates such as Naver Webtoon Corp. in South Korea and Line Digital Frontier Corp. in Japan are Webtoon Entertainment’s subsidiaries.“This contribution is to expand Naver’s global business and continue investment,” said a Naver official.Naver unveiled the direction of content business expansion. The portal giant will speed up moves to make profits from Wattpad Corp., eBook Initiative Japan and Munpia Inc. acquired last year. It will also enhance cooperation with Marvel, HYBE Co. and other global content partners with intellectual property.“We will introduce various new profit models for webtoons this year,” said Naver Chief Executive Han Seong-sook. “We will also focus on expanding global storytelling platforms including advertising and IP businesses.”RAPID GROWTHNaver generated 233.3 billion won of sales from content business including webtoons and web novels in the fourth quarter, up 67.9% from a year earlier.“Naver webtoons are rapidly growing with global annual transactions topping 1 trillion won in the fourth quarter,” Han said. “The box office hit of Our Beloved Summer, a drama jointly produced with StudioN, became a success story of turning webtoons into video products, showing strong potential for Naver IP business’s expansion.”Meanwhile, Naver reported record earnings last year on strong growth in its key businesses. Operating profit rose 9.1% to 1.3 trillion won in 2021 as sales surged 28.5% to 6.8 trillion won. .j-chart {color: #374140;font-family: 'Noto Sans KR', sans-serif;} .j-chart-txt-div {/*margin-left: 5%;*/} .j-chart-h5 {font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700;} .j-chart-h6 {font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; margin:-5px 0 20px 0} .j-chart-p {display: flex; justify-content: space-between;} .j-chart-p p {font-size: 13px; font-weight: 300; margin-bottom: 0!important; margin-top: 0px;} .j-chart-sub-p {display: flex; margin-left: 6%;} .j-chart-sub-p p {font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; color: #374140; margin-bottom: 0!important; width: 50%; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 0px;} @media screen and (max-width: 765px) { .j-chart-txt-div {margin-left: 0%;} .j-chart-p {display:block; } .j-chart-p p {margin-top: -6px;} .j-chart-h6 {margin:2px 0 20px 0} .j-chart-sub-p {margin-left: 10%;} .j-chart-sub-p p {font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 10px;} } Naver’s quarterly sales Unit: trillion won
Graphics by Jerry Lee
Source: Naver
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