SK Telecom recently announced that KT and LG Uplus invested a total of KRW 26 billion (~23million) in SKT’s subsidiary One Store to acquire 3.8% stake in the company.
With the investment, the three Korean mobile operators hold a 53.9% stake in One Store, followed by Naver (27.4%) and financial investors (19.4%).
One Store was established in 2016 by integrating mobile app markets of SKT, KT and LG Uplus and Naver. Under partnership, the three mobile operators are offering a 10 percent membership discount for their subscribers. Last year, One Store reported net income surplus for the first time since its launch, and sustained gross merchandise value (GMV) growth for 10 consecutive quarters.
According to IGAWorks’ mobile index, One Store’s GMV growth rate was 34.4%, about two times higher than that of other global app markets. In addition, One Store took up 18.3% of the market share in Korea, the highest in its record, in August 2020. Google Play and Apple App Store accounted for 71.2% and 10.7% of the Korean app store market, respectively.
Lee Jae-hwan, CEO of One Store
As KT and LG Uplus become One Store’s shareholders, we are confident that we will be able to shape One Store into a more competitive app market that offers greater benefits to users and promotes win-win growth with content providers.
