By Lee Min-hyung
Naver said Wednesday that it will spin off its photo-editing application SNOW into a new company, in a bid to speed up management processes for the fast-growing mobile software market.
Camp Mobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of Naver, released the mega-hit mobile app last September. The portal operator said the spinoff company, tentatively named SNOW, will go into business as a separate entity Aug. 1.
The two firms will remain as wholly owned subsidiaries of Naver.
“The decision came amid the growing popularity of the mobile app, which recorded more than 40 mililion downloads, only nine months after its launch,” the company said. “Naver realized the importance of the needs of its sustainable growth, for which we thought the application should have its own identity apart from Camp Mobile.”
SNOW is one of Camp Mobile’s latest flagship services along with private social networking service BAND, which has so far accumulated more than 50 million downloads. For almost three years, Camp Mobile has released some 30 mobile-oriented services, aggressively investing in new applications.
In particular, SNOW is receiving an explosive response from across Asia including markets in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The mobile application was ranked the most downloaded app for 75 days in the free app category of Apple’s Japan app store.
Naver said it will focus on turning the app into a representative service for mobile communication among consumers in their teens and 20s in the Asian market.
Kim Chang-wook, who has experience with Naver and Camp Mobile, will head the new company, Naver said. Kim has years of experiences in the startup industry. In 2009, he sold his travel information service application Wing Bus to Naver for 2.4 billion won ($2.11 million).
He also worked as Naver’s head of content service management for a year. In October 2013, Kim joined Camp Mobile, serving in key posts to release and manage its new services including BAND.
Under his leadership, Naver said SNOW will spare no efforts to turn itself into a globally acknowledged app.
Meanwhile, Camp Mobile will also continue to strengthen its capabilities in seeking new revenue sources by expanding outside Asia, according to Naver.
“Camp Mobile will do its utmost to find new revenue sources and push for aggressive globalization by turning emerging startups and services into the next BAND or SNOW,” Naver said.