Beyond Communications
Emoticons used in mobile messenger apps like Line and KakaoTalk are working up to business items, moving beyond just a communications method. As emoticons are used in not only cell phones but also dolls, diaries, bakeries, and animation, they are evolving as another content industry. Emoticons for mobile messengers were first used in the country, and now an increasing number of overseas IT companies like Facebook are choosing them as something to emulate.
According to industry sources on August 28, the sale of emoticons accounted for 20 percent of Line's earnings of 183 billion won (US$180 million) in the first half of this year. Last year, emoticons also made up 20 percent of the company's 450 billion won (US$443 million) in sales.
As for KakaoTalk, earnings coming from the sales of content, including emoticons, constituted 2.3 percent of the total as of 2013. The weight of content increased to 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Most earnings presumably come from the sale of emoticons.
The growth can be interpreted to mean that the communication method used in mobile devices is changing from text messages to non-verbal methods like emoticons. According to a survey done by market research firm Macromillembrain, 70.7 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “An increasing number of people will use mobile emoticons in the future.” When asked why they purchased emoticons, 67.8 percent of respondents said that it is attributable to their desire to express various kinds of emotions.
Emoticons are already showing remarkable growth offline. Both Kakao and Naver have related offline stores.
As emoticons, which were considered to be an unlikely source of making money, have turned into a business item, the global messenger industry is following suit. In fact, Facebook's messenger app has belatedly begun to participate in emoticon fever. Stickers were introduced to the app in July 2013.