Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Kakao hit with backlash over ‘unwanted’ messenger update
Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a speaks during the firm's annual developer conference in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of Kakao
By Lee Min-hyung
Mobile firm at increasing risk of losing corporate value
Kakao is faced with mounting public backlash for its controversial update of KakaoTalk — the nation’s dominant mobile messenger app — with a growing number of users urging the firm to roll back the service.
Last week, the mobile platform operator carried out a complete revamp of the app for the first time in 15 years, in what the company said was aimed at offering “more convenient chat experiences” to its users.
The reaction, however, showed otherwise, as most users argue the app has lost its identity by imitating the format of Instagram. In particular, they voice complaints that they have lost their privacy, as any updated photos of KakaoTalk users’ friends are now automatically exposed on the app’s main page.
According to data from user experience consultancy pxd, some 42 percent of KakaoTalk users called the overall update of the app “unsatisfactory.” The company tracked 1,000 reviews posted on Google Play Store and Apple App Store after KakaoTalk’s update.
User anger shows no signs of abating nearly a week after the update, with a number of users stepping up criticism of the firm’s management and demanding a rollback of the platform.
Kakao’s top management, however, maintains its basic stance that the updated version will become the new normal from a long-term viewpoint.
“It is true that even a minor update of a font can cause inconveniences, but the updated KakaoTalk will provide more convenient and free chatting experiences in the long run,” Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a told reporters on Tuesday after announcing the update.
Hong Min-taek, chief product officer at Kakao, explains major updates of KakaoTalk during the firm's developer conference in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of Kakao
Hong Min-taek, Kakao's chief product officer who spearheaded the latest app revamp, also expressed confidence that the update will resolve the inconveniences and make the daily chatting experience easier and more convenient.
However, fury escalated over the weekend after a Kakao official left a comment on Blind, a workplace community app, that the update was unilaterally pushed by the firm’s top management, including Hong, even though most of the firm’s working-level engineers, app developers and designers opposed the idea from the start.
Investors also reacted negatively to the latest controversy surrounding Kakao. According to data from the Korea Exchange, Kakao shares fell 6.17 percent on Friday from the previous trading day.
The firm’s stock price hovered around 66,400 won ($47) as of Sept. 22, but closed down to 59,300 won per share as of Friday.
Kakao shares are feared to suffer additional falls for at least the next few trading days, as public anger over the update remained unabated over the weekend.
Kakao’s market cap was worth some 29.36 trillion won on Sept. 22, but the figure dropped sharply by around 3.4 trillion won as of Friday.