A unified app store formed by South Korea's three mobile carriers and Naver Corp., the country's dominant Internet portal, is estimated to have taken 39 percent of the domestic market for Android-based app content, industry data showed Thursday.
The One Store was launched by KT Corp., SK Telecom Co. and LG Uplus Inc. in June last year to better compete with the Google Play store. Naver joined One Store in June this year.
Based on transaction volumes of 100 mobile games available for both One Store and Google Play, the market share of One Store is estimated to have jumped to 39 percent earlier this month, compared with 21 percent earlier this year.
One Store and Google Play account for nearly 100 percent of the Korean market for Android-based app content.
Still, the calculation may not match reality because some popular foreign mobile games, including "Clash of Clans," are available only at Google Play.
"We presume that our market share has surpassed 30 percent, but it is difficult to know the exact figure," a One Store official said.
One Store posted a cumulated net loss of 11.6 billion won ($9.8 million) in the first nine months of this year, hit by a rise in marketing spending.
However, the monthly transaction volume at One Store rose to a record 40.6 billion won at the end of the third quarter.
Industry watchers expect One Store to meet its target of taking a 40 percent share of the domestic market within three or four years of its launch. (Yonhap)
