Since its introduction as a free mobile messenger in March 2010, KakaoTalk has sky-rocketed in popularity and near-instantly became the go-to messaging app in the technocrat society of Korea.

Boasting a usership of more than 95 percent among the estimated 43 million smartphone owners in Korea, the internet-based messenger app quickly became synonymous with mobile messaging. Its success had even coined the term ‘KaTalk,’ a word that is now used interchangeably with texting. 


KakaoTalk’s penetration and domination over the domestic messenger market was swift and unrivaled with the startup quickly securing itself as a tech giant.

Unfortunately, the same success has not been met in overseas markets. Despite KakaoTalk’s many efforts to break into foreign messenger markets since 2011, the number of foreign users has been waning.

Kakao Corp. the company behind KakaoTalk, has released more than 10 additional features to the messenger app -- from games, webtoons, and music streaming to online payment, social media and even booking hotels and finding restaurants -- and has now grown into a multi-platform app that provides users with an all-in-one experience, but it still remains beached on the shores of Korea.

The problem lies in the firm stronghold other mobile messenger apps have secured worldwide..

With WhatsApp’s monopoly over 109 countries – including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India, Russia, and many more in South America, Europe and Africa -- as well as WeChat and Line’s grip over China and Japan, KakaoTalk has yet to catch a break outside of Korea.

KakaoTalk saw a promising growth when the app first launced to countries such as Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia, piggy-backing on the success of the Korean Wave, but it has witnessed a fall in the number of users in recent years. It had ultimately lost the race in Southeast Asia to its biggest rival, Naver’s Line, after Line managed to take over Japan, becoming the country’s largest social network in 2013 and the number one messenger app in Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.

Yet in spite of the many hurdles and unsuccessful ventures in foreign markets, Kakao’s founder and Chairman Kim Beom-su remains hopeful. “For the past few years we’ve been extremely competitive in marketing, but we’ve found that first-mover advantage has provided too big a step to overcome, so a lot of messengers are now shutting down their marketing activity. The question here is, who will be the one that finds that new strategy first,” said Kim, in an interview with Forbes magazine.

By Lee Sang-won (sangdoze@heraldcorp.com)