Which Asian Market Suits You?

Macro-level guiding principles for entering the Asian market

North East Asia: Common Perspectives

The Great Whale of China

The Giants of Japan

?

Korea as a Test Market

Ease of Business

Ease of Doing Business Index Rankings

#7 #27 #96

Source: World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.BUS.EASE.XQ)

#24 #26 #34

English Proficiency Index Rankings

Source: Education First (www.ef.com/epi)

Market Factors

Market Factors: Infrastructure & Accessibility

Country 4G Coverage Average Download

Speeds

Comparison to World Average

Smartphone Penetration

91% 18 MB/S +165% ~ 73%

68%11 MB/S +144% ~ 46%

Major Cities Only

2-4 MB/S (non-4G speeds)

-11%Projections to hit 90%

end of 2014

Source: [1] Our Mobile Planet (http://think.withgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/ [2] Gartner (http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2645115)

Market Factors: Purchasing Power

CountryAverage Monthly

Income (USD)Data Package Cost

(USD)Portion of

Income

~$2, 903 Unlimited $70-$80 2.75%

~$2,522 Unlimited $70-$80 3.17%

~$758 5GB $100 13.19%

Source: [1] International Labor Organization (http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/global-wage-report/2012/lang--en/index.htm

Average CPI vs ARPD

CPI: $1.98ARPD: $3.82Profit: $1.84

CPI: $1.86ARPD: $6.34Profit: $4.48

CPI: $0.90ARPD: $1.13Profit: $0.23

Source: Distimo/Chartboost (http://www.distimo.com/blog/2014_02_publication-how-the-most-successful-apps-monetize-globally/)

Offline Marketing Budget

Market Factors: 1 City, 1 Country

Soft Power: Sphere of Influence

Market Similarities: Holidays/Events

•Lunar new year•White day•Chuseok/•Childrens day•Buddhism/religion•Shared fairy tales

Market Similarities: Genre Preferences

• RPG/Adventure• Puzzle• Social

• RPG/Adventure• Social• Strategy

• Puzzle• RPG• Simulation

Market Similarities: App Discovery

Avg. Apps/Month: 6.5 Apps on phone: 45

Avg. Apps/Month: - Apps on phone: 36

Avg. Apps/Month: 7.2Apps on phone: 25

Summary

Korea:• Similar with Japan in technological capability and mobile

infrastructure• Samsung leading China in Smartphone market• Similar advertising strategies required in all three (i.e. offline,

broadcast, billboard) • More influence in ASEAN countries• Smaller marketing budgets• No significant app market fragmentation• Similar to Japan in that they are driving Google Play revenue• Shared cultural backgrounds

Conclusions

• Korea, China, and Japan are big, independent markets.

• Korea shares enough similarities with the two giants at its side to merit using it as a testing grounds before launching into either of them

• There is less risk in Korea due to smaller budgets and less fragmentation than the other two, while still being a top 5 app market