One Store Supported by Politicians... The Challenge of the 'Domestic Use' Label

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Amid the sharp rise in content prices due to the expansion of Google's in-app payment system, a bill has been proposed recommending that new apps registered in one market also be listed in other markets. This bill, dubbed the "One Store Act," is expected to benefit One Store the most.

According to industry sources on the 20th, independent lawmaker Yang Jeong-sook proposed an amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act that requires mobile content providers above a certain scale, when registering an app in one app market, to be recommended by the government to also list the app in other app markets accessible through the same mobile communication device.

The purpose of this bill is to alleviate, even slightly, the increased consumer burden caused by the mandatory Google and Apple in-app payment systems through competition in the app market.

Yang's office estimated that due to Google's mandatory in-app payment system, the prices of payment methods such as Naver Webtoon Cookies and Kakao Webtoon Cash have increased by 20%, causing approximately 4,928,000 paid users of webtoons and web novels to bear an additional annual cost of 68.99 billion KRW. When combined with the estimated additional burden of 230 billion KRW for OTT and music streaming service users, the total additional cost for content app users reaches 300 billion KRW.

There is a consensus in the National Assembly on the need to expand the domestic app market, making the likelihood of the bill's passage high. The biggest beneficiary is expected to be One Store. One Store is aggressively marketing by applying a basic commission rate of 10% for media content apps. With legislative support, its domestic market share is expected to increase significantly.

However, some argue that "the bill may not be very effective." Some app developers point out that if apps are listed on multiple markets, each must be managed separately, and listing on One Store, which is used only in the domestic market, could increase management costs. Ultimately, One Store's global expansion has become its biggest challenge.

An app developer stated, "Listing apps on multiple stores significantly increases tasks such as updates and customer management. While commission fees paid to Google can be saved, additional personnel may be needed, which could result in costs outweighing the savings."

A One Store representative said, "Currently, we are only a domestic platform operator, but as public opinion for competition introduction in the app market spreads, opportunities for global expansion will also grow. Starting next year, we plan to pursue strategies to expand into the European and North American markets and become a global app market company."

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