Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

According to reports in the morning of September 28, Beijing time, Zepeto, Asia's largest meta-universe platform, has begun its internationalization strategy and is ready to compete with multinational technology giants.

Zepeto is part of South Korean Internet giant Naver, a meta-cosmic platform that was born in 2018 and has attracted 340 million users. In addition, the meta-universe platform on the market is mainly operated by game companies and focuses on game players, while the user base of Zepeto is more young girls.

Zepeto this platform is full of Korean pop music, fashion and other elements. The platform, with a capital valuation of US $1 billion, has so far received investment from South Korean entertainment giants such as JYP, YG and Hebe, as well as Vision Fund 2, managed by Softbank Corp. Group.

Ricky Kang, an executive in charge of commerce in Naver's "Naver Z" group, which runs the Zepeto platform, said that Zepeto still has a long way to go to become a global heavyweight meta-universe platform, but the company is now on the track of internationalization.

Conlich said that Zepeto has established a strong influence in the Asia-Pacific region and will continue to increase the number of users in the Asia-Pacific region in the future. in addition, the company also attaches great importance to the development of the United States and Western European markets. Take the French market as an example, Zepeto has achieved a very high user growth rate.

Zepeto is also popular in Brazil in South America, the executive said. In addition, in order to break into the Internet market in the Middle East, the company is developing Turkish and Arabic versions.

A big background of Zepeto's internationalization strategy is that the two giants of meta-universe, Facebook parent company Meta and Microsoft, are investing heavily, betting that this three-dimensional world full of virtual images will become the next important technology platform.

Zepeto has become the largest meta-cosmic platform in the Asian market, with 15 million to 20 million monthly active users, mainly in South Korea, Japan and China. Of these active users, 70% are female players, most of whom are between the ages of 13 and 21.

There is still a big gap between Zepeto and its American competitor Roblox. Roblox has a market capitalization of $50 billion and 200m monthly active users, many of whom are boys and girls.

Conridge said that Zepeto has always attached importance to players who buy virtual goods, and in the future, the virtual goods or experiences that players buy will have more to do with personalized virtual worlds, a business model similar to Roblox.

Other meta-universe competitors mentioned by Conridge include online social platforms Rec Room and VR Chat, as well as the well-known game Fortnite.

The executive also stressed that Zepeto is essentially a social network, not just a place where players can chat with each other while playing games.

He said that Zepeto is similar to TikTok or Instagram, it is actually a kind of information flow, but only includes the content of virtual images or characters, it is also the first social network with virtual images as the core.

Users mainly access Zepeto through mobile software, the main business model of the platform is to provide a variety of goods, allowing users to design their own virtual image. The platform designs or trades countless virtual goods every year, including clothing, clothing and hairstyles, and users can also create their own virtual world.

On the platform, users can also buy virtual household appliances and home decoration products to decorate their virtual rooms.

For corporate brands, Zepeto has adopted a licensing model, and they have established partnerships with many luxury and decoration brands, including Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Bulgari, Adidas, Nike and so on.

Players can also buy virtual Samsung electronics home appliances and drive Korean Hyundai cars.

Naver Z Group has also established IP partnerships with American Disney, Universal Pictures and other companies. During the global COVID-19 epidemic, South Korean woman Tiantuan Blackpink (represented by YG) once held a signing ceremony on the Zepeto platform.

Conridge says one of Zepeto's core strengths is its close relationship with South Korean pop music and culture companies.

Last year, the South Korean government established the Meta-Universe Alliance, which includes more than 200 companies and research institutions. In 2022, the South Korean government allocated about $8 billion to make the meta-universe concept the next digital technology transformation in South Korea.

However, some analysts also question the sustainability of the Zepeto platform, saying that the number of users is really limited.

Cui Junchul, chief executive of South Korea's VIP Research and Management Company, said Zepeto needs to expand its user base beyond the current group of boys and girls, and Facebook and Instagram have done the same in the past.

Cui Junzhe said that the youth group is a very passionate user group, but their interests are generally short-lived. On virtual platforms, boys and girls show off goods they cannot afford in the real world, and it is doubtful whether these teenagers will continue to use Zepeto as they get older.

Conridge agrees that teenagers are getting older and that Zepeto needs to expand its user base.

He said that as Zepeto users get older, the platform wants to grow with them, and this applies to all major social networking platforms, including chat tool Snapchat and short video platform TikTok. These platforms generally start with teenagers and eventually become a service accepted by the general public.

According to reports, some scholars in South Korea have raised concerns about the security of Zepeto users on the platform. In the European Union, the threshold age for similar social platforms is 16, 13 in many Asian countries, and even lower in some countries.

Earlier this month, Naver Z joined the global Science and Technology Alliance, whose member companies work to combat sexual abuse and exploitation of teenagers on the Internet.

Conlich said it was difficult to regulate meta-universe, which uses artificial intelligence to target violations and has set up call centers where users can dial for help, but bad people in meta-universe can easily evade these defense mechanisms.

Wi Jong-hyun, a business professor at South Korea's Central University in Seoul, said Zepeto needs to take more stringent and practical measures to regulate meta-universe. The professor said that in meta-universe, many teenage users confuse each other with beautiful virtual images, and they are often shocked when uncomfortable behavior occurs.

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