Kakao
Kakao Corporation (Korean: 카카오) is a South Korean Internet conglomerate headquartered in Jeju City. It was formed through the merger of Daum Communications and the original Kakao Inc in 2010. The company was renamed Daum Kakao in 2014.[5] In 2015 it was rebranded once more, reverting simply to Kakao.[6]
Native name
주식회사 카카오
2010 (original company; as Kakao Inc.)
1 October 2014 (current company)
Jeju City, South Korea
Worldwide
Brian Kim (founder)
Stephan Kim (chairman, head of corporate alignment center)[a][1]
Eun-taek Hong (CEO)[2]
KRW₩ 167.1 billion (2020)
- Brian Kim (23.80%)[4]
- National Pension Service (6.41%)[4]
- Maximo Pte (Tencent) (5.93%)[4]
10,644 (2020)
Kakao
K'ak'ao
In May 2015, the company acquired Path, an American social media company that had become successful in Indonesia.[7] In January 2016, Kakao acquired a 76.4% stake in LOEN Entertainment, a large South Korean entertainment company, for $1.5 billion.[8] It was later rebranded as Kakao M. The company has gained further prominence from KakaoTalk, a free mobile instant messaging application for smartphones with text and call features. By May 2017, the app had 220 million registered users and 47 million active monthly users.[9]
As of March 2022, the company is competing with Naver Corporation for dominance in the Japanese web comic and web novel market.[10]
History[edit]
2006-2014: Founding of Kakao Corp.[edit]
Kakao Corp is the company behind KakaoTalk, which serves as its main platform and flagship application. It was founded in 2006 by Kim Bum-soo, the former CEO of NHN Corporation (the organization that emerged from the Hangame and Naver.com merger) as Kakao Inc.[11] Kakao Corp. (then known as Kakao Inc.) is based in Seoul, South Korea. Manson Yeo and Sean Joh serve as the current co-CEOs.[12]
In August 2013, three of globally ranked top 10 Android games (according to analytics provider App Annie) are tied into the KakaoTalk platform—Everybody’s Marble, Cookie Run, and Anipang.[13][14] With 93 percent of South Korea's users on KakaoTalk, the free downloads of the games Ani Pang and Dragon Flight, which can only be played with a Kakao Talk account, were deemed "national" games. To maintain simplicity across all the provided services, Kakao applications can be purchased and logged in with links to KakaoTalk.[15] Kakao Corp generated revenue of approximately $200M (USD) in 2013 through gaming, digital content, mobile commerce, and its marketing channels for brands and celebrities.[16] Kakao Corp. was named a Top Developer on Google's Android Market, and KakaoTalk was chosen as the number one Free SMS App by Cnet.[17]
According to a December 2013 App Annie report, Kakao is the world's third top publisher by monthly revenue at Google Play. Kakao Corp. is the number one publisher for iOS and Google Play in South Korea, and KakaoTalk is the number one app for iOS and Google Play revenue in South Korea.[18] KakaoTalk was nominated for the Most Innovative Mobile App Award at the Global Mobile Awards 2014.[19] Kakao Corp. agreed to buy Daum Communications Corp, to cut costs and save time to jump-start growth and gain a listing in Seoul, South Korea.[20]
Kakao Corp's full suite of apps includes: KakaoTalk, KakaoStory, KakaoTaxi, KakaoAccount, KakaoMap, KakaoDriver, KakaoBus, KakaoMusic, KakaoGroup, KakaoHome, KakaoPlace, KakaoAlbum, KakaoPage, KakaoStyle, and KakaoAgit.[21]
