Jang Seob Yoon
Research expert covering South Korea
Software industry in South Korea - Statistics & Facts
The South Korean government focuses on an early adoption of new technologies and highly subsidizes companies in developing industries. As of 2019, more than one thousand companies were focusing on cloud software, while another 659 were focusing on IoT, closely followed by big data, and AI.
Overall, the software production value in South Korea was at around 55.5 trillion South Korean won in 2018.
The overall production value of the South Korean gaming industry in 2018 was at around 11.9 trillion South Korean won. Around 39 percent of businesses in the gaming industry were focusing on mobile game software. South Korea’s biggest game developing companies include NCSoft, PUBG, NHN Entertainment, and Netmarble.
One of South Korea’s top gaming companies is Netmarble, which was founded in 2000. Netmarble is the company behind popular mobile games like Lineage 2 Revolution and Marvel: Future Fight. In the fourth quarter of 2019, around 39 percent of Netmarble's revenue was made with RPG games. That quarter, around 72 percent of Netmarble's revenue was made overseas. Marvel Contest of Champions was their strongest game in that period, accounting for around 17 percent of their revenue.
In many cases, South Korean customers seem to prefer software and hardware made by South Korean companies. One example for this is the popularity of the instant messenger KakaoTalk compared to international rivals, such as LINE or WhatsApp. (898254)
Similarly, South Korea is one of the few countries in which Microsoft Office has not completely taken over the overall market for office suites. While Microsoft had a market share of 71.3 percent in 2015, Hancom Inc.’s Office Suite is still a popular choice among South Korean consumers. Hancom developed a native word processing program for the Korean language, called Hangul, also known as HWP or HanWord. Hancom’s sales revenue totaled at around 319 billion South Korean won as of 2019.
Game development
The overall production value of the South Korean gaming industry in 2018 was at around 11.9 trillion South Korean won. Around 39 percent of businesses in the gaming industry were focusing on mobile game software. South Korea’s biggest game developing companies include NCSoft, PUBG, NHN Entertainment, and Netmarble.
One of South Korea’s top gaming companies is Netmarble, which was founded in 2000. Netmarble is the company behind popular mobile games like Lineage 2 Revolution and Marvel: Future Fight. In the fourth quarter of 2019, around 39 percent of Netmarble's revenue was made with RPG games. That quarter, around 72 percent of Netmarble's revenue was made overseas. Marvel Contest of Champions was their strongest game in that period, accounting for around 17 percent of their revenue.
Leading towards domestic software
In many cases, South Korean customers seem to prefer software and hardware made by South Korean companies. One example for this is the popularity of the instant messenger KakaoTalk compared to international rivals, such as LINE or WhatsApp. (898254)
Similarly, South Korea is one of the few countries in which Microsoft Office has not completely taken over the overall market for office suites. While Microsoft had a market share of 71.3 percent in 2015, Hancom Inc.’s Office Suite is still a popular choice among South Korean consumers. Hancom developed a native word processing program for the Korean language, called Hangul, also known as HWP or HanWord. Hancom’s sales revenue totaled at around 319 billion South Korean won as of 2019.
