AIDT Setback Turns into Opportunity: Woongjin Thinkbig Accelerates Performance Improvement After Restructuring

Last Year's AIDT Evaluation Failure Turns Out to Be a 'Benefit'
Focus on Performance Recovery After Escaping Lee Administration Policy Risks
"2025 Will Be the First Year of Exports"... Accelerating Global Expansion

Woongjin Thinkbig, which faced a crisis after being eliminated from the Artificial Intelligence Digital Textbook (AIDT) project, is now seeking a turnaround by escaping policy risks. The company is strengthening its fundamentals through organizational restructuring and talent acquisition, while also aiming for a rebound in performance in the second half of the year through group synergy strategies and expansion into overseas markets.

According to FnGuide, a financial information provider, Woongjin Thinkbig’s consolidated operating profit consensus (brokerage firm estimates) for the second quarter of this year is 7 billion KRW, marking a return to profit from the previous quarter’s loss of 10.7 billion KRW. Revenue is expected to reach 222 billion KRW, a 12.7% increase from the previous quarter’s 197 billion KRW.

After failing the AIDT evaluation last year, Woongjin Thinkbig initially considered reapplying. However, as controversy continued over the downgrading of AIDT’s status as a textbook, the company ultimately disbanded the related business division earlier this year. The tens of billions of KRW invested in development costs were reflected as impairment losses in the first quarter’s results, causing the operating loss for that quarter to more than triple compared to the same period last year (2.9 billion KRW).

Given the recent situation in the education industry, some now view the setback as a blessing in disguise. On July 10, the situation for the industry worsened further when a revision to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, led by the Democratic Party, passed the National Assembly’s standing committee, lowering AIDT’s status from a textbook to educational material. AIDT publishers have responded strongly, launching lawsuits and other measures. In contrast, Woongjin Thinkbig, which avoided policy risks, implemented additional restructuring last month and focused on laying the groundwork for improved performance.

On July 21, AIDT publishers held a rally in front of the National Assembly to demand the retention of AIDT’s textbook status, officially proposing an extension of the one-year pilot use of AIDT in schools and the formation of a public-private-government digital education policy consultative body. On the same day, Woongjin Thinkbig established the new position of Head of Education Business, overseeing the Education Culture, Future Education, and Online Business Divisions. The company also expanded and reorganized the DGP Business Division and brought in an industry expert to complete its organizational restructuring for the first half of the year. The contrast in approaches is striking.

A Woongjin Thinkbig representative stated, “We have completed the phased organizational restructuring we have been preparing since last year, laying the foundation to focus on both traditional education businesses and new ventures. Starting in the second half of the year, we plan to concentrate our capabilities on traditional education businesses such as Woongjin Smartall, as well as new businesses including webtoons, web novels, and edutech.”

Woongjin Headquarters. Asia Economy DB

At the group level, attention is also focused on the synergy with Woongjin Freedlife, which was acquired last month. Analysts suggest that cross-marketing strategies are possible, such as offering existing funeral service members the opportunity to use Woongjin Thinkbig’s educational products, or converting Woongjin Thinkbig’s main customer base?parents in their 30s and 40s?into funeral service members. Notably, the 30s and 40s demographic significantly overlaps with the younger consumer segment that the funeral service industry is increasingly targeting, lending further weight to these prospects.

The company is also accelerating its overseas market expansion, most notably targeting the Middle Eastern edutech market, which is estimated to be worth around 10 trillion KRW. In May, Woongjin Thinkbig signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Qatar’s Dakaaken Group for 'ARpedia,' an augmented reality (AR)-based reading solution, covering Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt. The AI reading platform 'Bookstory,' which received the Best Innovation Award at CES 2025, the world’s largest IT and electronics exhibition, is set for release in the second half of this year. A Woongjin Thinkbig representative said, “2025 will be the first year in which we move beyond simple overseas expansion to achieve tangible export contracts and revenue generation.”

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