[Special Stock] Obigo, Global Leader in Smart Car App Stores... Expected Platform Preemption Effect

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Obigo, recently listed on the KOSDAQ market, is soaring. The company’s implementation of an app store for smart cars and data analysis services for vehicle software development on its platform appears to have increased expectations for future growth.

As of 9:40 a.m. on the 21st, Obigo is trading at 20,200 KRW, up 19.17% from the previous day.

Obigo started as a mobile phone Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browser solution company. Based on 17 years of accumulated embedded browser technology, it developed smart car software such as the 'Obigo AGB Browser,' 'Obigo App Framework,' and 'Obigo Development Toolkit.' The company operates software solutions and content service businesses based on smart car software platform technology. Obigo has succeeded in commercializing software platforms for providing connected vehicle services. It entered a stabilization phase, and since 2019, Obigo technology has been integrated into automobiles.

Obigo also developed a smart car software platform, a creation tool to provide various application execution environments in vehicles and to build a vehicle service ecosystem. With advancements in communication, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and Internet of Things technologies, the smart car market is just beginning to open. Obigo is expanding its business areas to include AI voice assistant services, E-commerce functions, autonomous driving, as well as electric and hydrogen vehicle service technologies.

Obigo’s revenue composition is divided into joint research and development, royalties, maintenance, and licensing. Chan-sol Park, a researcher at SK Securities, explained, "Joint research and development costs are estimated to be in the tens of billions of KRW per project," and "Royalties typically range from 1,000 to 8,000 KRW per produced vehicle."

Last year, Obigo recorded operating revenue of 12.1 billion KRW, an operating loss of 1 billion KRW, and a net loss of 3.9 billion KRW. Most of the order amounts and operating revenue are related to joint research and development results. Software technology is implemented during the complete vehicle development and commercialization stages. Royalties are expected to begin next year when customers start mass-producing vehicles equipped with Obigo software.

Do-yeon Hwang, CEO of Obigo, recently emphasized in a media interview, "In the smart car era, the automobile evolves from a mere means of transportation to a 'platform,'" adding, "Obigo can play a central role by providing an environment where apps can be used."

Obigo’s competitive edge lies in its 'vehicle app store.' The vehicle app store is an app platform where various services usable in smart cars can be downloaded. CEO Hwang introduced, "We have signed platform supply contracts worth tens of billions of KRW with three global top vehicle manufacturers," and "We plan to launch additional vehicle app stores by Obigo." He continued, "We already introduced app stores in India in 2016 and China in 2018," and "last year, we launched it in the domestic market as well."

He added, "By this year, the number of vehicles equipped with browsers or app stores is 1 million," and "it is expected to increase to 6 million by next year."

Researcher Kwi-yeon Kim of Heungkuk Securities analyzed, "Obigo secures a monopolistic position in the technology sourcing and verification, as well as mass production verification processes, with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that have a need for in-house platform development," and "The platform business has a significant contribution margin effect after the service app is built."

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