이 기사는 2022년 04월 08일 08:04 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

One Store, the app store unit of South Korea’s SK Group, has set its sights on Southeast Asian and European markets as it looks to grow beyond just an app marketplace and into a global content platform for multi operating systems.

The app store operator plans to use part of the money that will be raised through its planned initial public offering, or 47.7 billion won ($39.2 million), over the next two years to strengthen its cross-platform business, expand its app marketplace business into global markets and invest in content intellectual property, according to its IPO prospectus filed with financial regulators.

The company will also spend 112 billion won by next year to grow its business across countries and a range of areas, including ad tech, content and the metaverse, through acquisitions and equity investments.

Global expansion is a key factor on the company’s path to growth given the relatively small size of the domestic market. According to App Annie, South Korean consumers spent $6.6 billion on mobile apps in 2021, the fourth largest after China, the US and Japan. But the country accounted for a mere 3.9% of the total spending of $170 billion.


The global app store market is dominated by US tech giants Apple and Google. Last year, transaction volumes on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store reached 102 trillion won and 57 trillion won respectively, versus One Store’s 1.1 trillion won.

China is the world’s largest market for mobile apps but is already dominated by local players, including Tencent’s My App (37.99%), Oppo Software Store (19.89%), 360 Mobile Assistant (17.71%) and Baidu Mobile Assistant (10.89%). China’s regulatory scrutiny is another barrier to entry.

That’s why One Store has set its eyes on Southeast Asia, including Taiwan, and European countries as the key markets for its global expansion.

“We are aiming to expand into global markets this year and targeting to enter Taiwan, the Southeast Asia region and Europe,” an official at One Store said. “Technical issues have been almost cleared and now we are at the stage of preparing for the expansion in earnest.”

Focusing on niche markets

One Store reckons K-content will appeal to mobile app consumers in Southeast Asia. The region also sees the fastest mobile spending growth in the world.

Moreover, unlike Apple and Google, One Store’s app marketplace supports various local payment methods. This was one of the company’s key strengths over its rivals in the home country.

One Store plans to expand its business across Europe in partnership with Deutsche Telekom, which invested in the company last year and has long been in a close relationship with SK Telecom, the app store operator’s former parent company. The partnership with German telco will help One Store to expand across the continent, especially in the mobile gaming market.

One Store is in discussions about partnerships with local app store operators in Europe as well to connect each other’s app marketplace ecosystems and grow together.

Microsoft Corporation is also one of One Store’s backers. One Store plans to launch its global platform based on the US software giant’s Azure cloud service. The two companies will also work together to create mobile gaming content.

One Store is collaborating with China’s Tencent as well. Last year they launched a beta version of One GameLoop, a cross-platform where users can purchase and play mobile games through other devices like PCs.

“One GameLoop’s beta version generated sales of more than 12 billion won in only six months,” an official at One Store said. “We will officially launch the service soon.” (Reporting by Jang-jun Lee)