“Release after quality verification and improvement work”
Recorded highest quarterly sales ever due to platform growth,
,
,
, ‘Kakao will launch an artificial intelligence (AI) service in the form of a conversational platform in the latter half of this year.’,
,
, ‘At the 2nd quarter performance presentation on the 8th, Kakao’s CEO Jung Shin-ah said, “In the latter half of the year, we plan to introduce a B2C (business-to-consumer) AI service in the form of a conversational platform, which is Kakao’s unique strength,” and explained, “In order to minimize hallucinations and cater to users unfamiliar with AI, we will release the service in a separate application outside KakaoTalk.”‘,
,
, “Jung also stated, ‘We will carry out quality verification and improvement work in the middle of the second half before launching the service.’ He added, ‘Instead of focusing on developing our own large language model (LLM), we will quickly proceed with the launch of AI services that are easily accessible from a cost efficiency perspective.'”,
,
, “Previously, Kakao established an AI-dedicated organization called ‘Kanana.’ It is divided into ‘Kanana X,’ which develops AI services, and ‘Kanana Alpha,’ which focuses on AI model development. Kanana X is led by former Kakao CAIO (Chief AI Officer) Lee Sang-ho, while Kanana Alpha is led by Kim Byeong-hak, the CEO of Kakao Brain.”,
,
, “Jung announced plans to streamline non-core businesses for future growth. He said, ‘We aim to focus our corporate resources on accelerating TocBiz’s growth and exploring AI growth momentum.’ He added, ‘We will define businesses with low relevance to KakaoTalk, AI as non-core and swiftly proceed with efficiency enhancement in those businesses in the latter half of the year.'”,
,
, ‘He also addressed the unprecedented situation of the arrest of top executives. Kim Bum-soo, co-chair of the CA Cooperation Council and head of the Management Reform Committee, was arrested last month on charges of manipulating stock prices to exceed the public offering price of 120,000 won to obstruct the public takeover of SM by Kakao Entertainment. Jung said, “Kakao is facing difficulties due to recent external circumstances,” and added, “We will all strive to uphold the essence and responsibility of our services within the group’s management team and members, while promoting diverse stakeholder relations and mutual growth to strengthen our foundation and substance.”‘,
,
, ‘Kakao reported its highest second quarter sales ever due to growth in the platform sector. Sales amounted to 2.49 trillion won, a 4% increase from the same period last year. Operating profit recorded a 18.5% increase to 134 billion won.’,
,
, ‘According to Kakao, the sales of the platform sector in the second quarter increased by 10% from the same period last year to 955.3 billion won. TocBiz, which conducts advertising and e-commerce businesses through KakaoTalk, saw sales increase by 7% to 513.9 billion won during the same period. Advertising revenue from TocBiz, such as Biz Board and KakaoTalk Channels, increased by 9% to 307.3 billion won compared to the same period last year. Transactional revenue from services like gifting and Talk Store increased by 5% to 206.6 billion won.’,
,
, ‘Kakao’s monthly active users (MAU) of KakaoTalk in the second quarter stood at 48.93 million, and it evaluated that the business model realized through KakaoTalk is a key growth driver.’,
,
, ‘Revenue from other platform sectors including mobility and payments increased by 18% year-on-year to 353.5 billion won, while portal business revenue, including Daum, decreased by 2% year-on-year to 87.9 billion won.’,
,
, “In addition to the platform, Kakao’s content sector recorded sales of 1.496 trillion won in the second quarter. Music sales increased by 6% year-on-year to 510.9 billion won, driven by the new releases of ‘Ivy,’ ‘Likey,’ and ‘Espa,’ each of which sold 1.7 million, 1.27 million, and 1.17 million copies, respectively, leading to revenue and profit growth.”,
,
, ‘Revenue from stories decreased by 7% to 215.9 billion won, influenced by the expansion of strategic marketing costs to address intensified competition in the Japanese webtoon market. Media revenue increased by 22% year-on-year to 89.6 billion won, attributed to concentrated production lineups in the second half of last year.’,
,