Google Play Hits Record High Credit Card Sales... Surpasses 2 Trillion Won

"If Google's Payment Policy Is Illegal, the Government Must Respond"

Park Kwang-on, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-kyu Lee] Google Play's credit card sales exceeded 2 trillion won this year, setting a record high. As Google Play, which holds about 80% market share in the domestic app market, enforces a 30% commission fee on all content and applications, there are calls for the government to take active measures if Google Play's payment policy is found to be illegal.

On the 12th, Park Kwang-on, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed data submitted by seven domestic credit card companies (Samsung, Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Hana, BC). According to the analysis, the total credit card sales of the top three domestic app markets from January to September this year reached 2.6356 trillion won.

Among them, Google Play sales amounted to 2.0696 trillion won, accounting for 78.5% of domestic app market sales. Google Play sales, which were only 159.8 billion won in 2016, increased more than 12 times over five years to 1.9753 trillion won last year. This year, sales have already surpassed 2 trillion won by the third quarter, exceeding the highest record ever.

Apple App Store sales reached 405.4 billion won, accounting for 15.4% of domestic app market sales. This is about four times the amount of last year (98 billion won). Although the Apple App Store is growing rapidly, its sales this year are only about 20% of Google Play's.

One Store, a domestic app market created jointly by the three major domestic mobile carriers and Naver, showed poor performance. One Store's sales from January to September were 160.6 billion won, accounting for only 6.1% of domestic app market sales.

Assemblyman Park said, "Google, which holds an 80% market share in the domestic app market, is abusing its monopolistic power by enforcing in-app payments and a 30% commission fee," and added, "If the illegality of Google's payment policy is confirmed, the government should immediately respond and prepare related measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.