"Stop Platform Dinosaur Monopoly" Rising Voices... Restoring Competition Is Key

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] #1. Last July, when the delivery platform Baedal Minjok announced a new fee system centered on commissions, the food service industry was immediately shaken. The fee system revealed by Baedal Minjok at the time was a method of charging a fixed commission per order. However, due to strong opposition from small business owners and criticism from the political sphere, the company eventually withdrew the plan. Baedal Minjok, the number one delivery app platform in Korea, is estimated to hold about 63% of the market share.

#2. Google has officially announced a policy to mandate in-app payments for all apps and content on its app market, Google Play, starting next year, taking a whopping 30% commission in the process. This measure is feared to be a direct blow not only to domestic app developers but also to consumers. Unable to endure Google's commission abuse, domestic startups have reported Google to the Korea Fair Trade Commission, claiming it constitutes abuse of market dominance and unfair trade practices under the Fair Trade Act.

"The market monopoly of online giant platforms can hinder subsequent innovation and threaten the market economy." The concerns expressed by Kim Jae-shin, Vice Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, at a recent academic conference are not stories of a distant future. For example, Google's declaration to take a 30% app toll is also evaluated to stem from confidence in its near-monopoly market share.

What stands out in these successive commission controversies is that even a single policy change by a market-dominant business operator can shake the entire ecosystem. In the mobile industry, the monopoly of platform companies and the countermeasures taken by domestic companies are considered the biggest issues. The core is the restoration of market competition.

In the case of the delivery app commission controversy, local governments stepped in immediately after the incident. Following 'Baedal-ui Myeongsu' in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, and 'Baedal Seogu' in Seo-gu, Incheon, Seoul City introduced 'Zero Delivery Union,' which combines Seoul's simple payment system Zero Pay with private small and medium delivery apps. Alternative delivery platforms aim to reduce the burden on small business owners in the food service industry. Gyeonggi Province also announced that after a pilot operation, it will launch 'Baedal Teukgeup' at the end of November, further expanding the presence of public delivery apps in the food delivery industry.

Since the Google app toll controversy, voices advocating for the nurturing of 'native platforms' in Korea have also gained strength. A representative example is the significant increase in inquiries from companies considering the native platform One Store as an alternative, unable to endure the app market giant's abuse. One Store's market share, which was in the low teens at the beginning of the year, has surged sharply in the second half of this year amid the spread of the app commission controversy, approaching 20%.

Launched in 2016, One Store's app commission is 20%, much lower than Apple and Google. It does not force in-app payments, which have become an industry norm. Rather, it implements a groundbreaking policy of reducing the commission to 5% if developers use their own payment system. Especially in October, when the app toll controversy was a major issue at the National Assembly audit, One Store took the lead in reducing developers' cost burdens by offering a 50% commission discount to small and medium developers earning less than 5 million KRW per month.

Experts agree that platform companies should create a structure where they can lower commissions through market competition. Through such competition, consumers can receive better services and prices. Currently, amid increasing political and public pressure on Google's commission policy, and with Apple lowering commissions by half for small developers, Google has finally pulled out the card of postponing the application.

In the domestic taxi-hailing app market led by Kakao Mobility, competition has intensified this year as various companies, including regional taxi cooperatives' own calling apps, have entered the market. The Gwangju Taxi Cooperative launched its own calling app, 'Ribbon Taxi.' Currently, in the Gwangju area, more companies participate than KakaoT Blue affiliated taxis. VCNC, the operator of Tada, has started the beta service of the affiliated taxi 'Tada Light.' KST Mobility, the operator of Makgeolli Taxi, also announced that it will build a mobility platform along with the region-specialized taxi calling app 'T1 Taxi.'

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