November 21, 2024

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One Store CEO Chun Dong-jin speaks at a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. (One Store)

Korean mobile app store operator One Store said Wednesday that it aims to expand globally with Taiwan being the first strategic market.

“Our hyper localization strategy involves partnering with local companies globally to tailor services specifically for each region, aiming to compete with global monopolies on a global scale," CEO Chun Dong-jin said during a press conference in Seoul, earlier in the day.

"One Store aims to become the most competitive app market globally by 2030."

As part of this expansion, One Store has launched Enjoy Store, a joint app market with Taiwan’s leading game publisher, Happytuk.

The Enjoy Store has been operating in beta version since June with over 200 games launched, including popular titles like Candy Crush Saga and CookieRun: Tower of Adventures. They have achieved more than 20,000 installations, Chun explained.

One Store aims to launch its app market in the US this year and expand to Europe and Japan by 2025. To achieve these goals, it is in discussions with companies in each region to facilitate smooth entry into the respective markets.

To support its global expansion, One Store is also looking to strengthen partnerships with game companies and attract investments to build the necessary momentum for its overseas ventures.

So far, the firm has attracted $10 million from US-based advertising agency Digital Turbine this year, following 20 billion won ($15 million) from Krafton in October last year.

Established in 2016, One Store has 15 million monthly active users, 880 million cumulative downloads and an annual transaction volume growth rate of 17.3 percent.

One Store had sought to go public in 2022, but the plan was scrapped due to investors’ low demand. At Wednesday’s event, Chun again showed his strong will to list the company within the next two to three years.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)