Apple said to start its webtoon services in North America in second half

Apple Inc. logo [Courtesy of Apple]

Apple Inc. is poised to offer online comics, or webtoons, in North America, which could intensify its rivalry with Korean webtoon platforms.

As with the greatest size of consumers and growth potential, North America has been seen as a strategic market for Korean webtoon providers, such as Naver Corp, have already made efforts to solidify their market share in the region.

According to Maeil Business Newspaper’s reportings on Sunday, Apple Books has ramped up its efforts to supply vertically-read-manga, or webtoons, to North American consumers in the second half of this year. The e-book service provider under Apple is said to have planned the launch of webtoon pages in 51 countries.

The content will be provided by the world’s established webtoon production firms, including South Korean startup KENAZ. The South Korean firm signed a three-year contract with Apple Books to supply webtoons. In addition, Apple Books is said to be working on webcomic adaptation of the popular movie Gladiator and the well-known novel Empire of the Ants, written by French author Bernard Werber. The endeavors are aimed at acquiring captivating content tailored to specific local markets.

Such moves by Apple Books will likely bring significant changes to the webcomic market led by Korean platforms.

As North America and Europe have no leading players in the webtoon industry, chances are that a significant shift will likely take place among platforms. According to sources, Apple Books so far has no plan to begin its services in South Korea, a powerhouse in webtoons, suggesting that it will target new markets with greater potential for growth.

Apple has put efforts into the webcomic market for years. Its entry into Japan in April represented a beginning in its preparations to enter the global market. The tech firm is believed to have seen securing compelling intellectual properties early on as a way to stand out in the North American and European markets where no leading platforms have emerged yet. In April, Amazon.com Inc. also launched its webcomic service in Japan, called Amazon Fliptoon. The content of about 100 webcomics is available in Japanese.

Naver Webtoon logo [Courteys of Naver]

Industry sources said that big tech firms joining the webtoon market have shunned the use of the word webtoons, coined by Korean platforms. They instead have renamed their services to call them Vertical Reading Comics.

“Naver has yet to enjoy a robust market share in North America, though it has trademark rights in the market,” said an unnamed official from a Korean webtoon production studio. “The term webtoons could vanish if the western rivals unveil more compelling content while pouring tons of funds in the industry.”

According to multiple sources, major tech companies have been engaging with Korean webtoon producers to secure competitive intellectual property (IP).

“Just as the emergence of Netflix facilitated the international popularity of Korean series, webtoon producers have high hopes that the entry of big tech companies into the webtoon platform market could pave the way for Korean webtoons to gain global recognition,” said another source from the webtoon industry. “However, dominant players like Naver and Kakao, which have held monopolistic positions in South Korea and Japan, will need to devise new strategies to secure outstanding content and compete for market share.”

In addition to the U.S. companies, rivals from other countries, such as Japan and France, have joined the webtoon market.

Shueisha Inc., a Japanese manga publisher known for titles like Dragon Ball, One Piece and Naruto, plans to launch its webtoon platform called Jumptoon next year. Another well-known Japanese publisher, Kodansha Ltd., recently introduced its platform in the U.S. Picsou Magazine, a French magazine, has established a subscription-based webtoon platform that distributes Disney comics.

Established comics producers, as well as big tech firms, are showing interest in the webtoon market because the market boasts higher profitability, greater potential growth, younger users and valuable IP.