Apple May Have Finally Found A Savior For Books App — Thanks To Its Bet On Korean Web Comics

Amidst the rapidly increasing global interest in Korean entertainment, Apple Inc. AAPL has made a hush-hush move to infuse the country’s favorite way of consuming digital comics into its Books app. 

What Happened: In December last year, Apple silently entered into a three-year agreement with South Korean startup Kenaz, exclusively contracting them to provide webtoons, a form of online books, reported Bloomberg. 

This agreement suggests that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant is placing its bets on Korean webcomics as a means to revitalize its Books app.

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The latest content was introduced in Japan last month and it will soon be extended to all 51 countries where the Books app is accessible. However, the deal’s monetary worth has not been disclosed yet. 

“North America doesn’t really have a significant lead player in webtoons yet,” stated Woody Lee, the founder and CEO of Kenaz, adding, “Apple Books has a chance at becoming a competitive player in this field pretty quickly.”

Why It’s Important: Apple’s Books app has not received as much investment as its other services, such as Apple Music and Apple TV. In fact, it has been a considerable amount of time since the company last introduced a new service to it, the report noted.

Webtoons, the preferred form of digital comics in Korea, have been the driving force behind many of the country’s global hits, ranging from the dark zombie comedy “All of Us Are Dead” to the monster epic “Sweet Home.”

Considering the popularity of Korean entertainment has skyrocketed in recent years following the success of productions like “Squid Game,” “Parasite” and the recently released “The Glory,” Apple might be trying to leverage this trend to give a jolt to its Books app. 

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