The manga industry continues to grow substantially, with digital platforms seeing immense success. In 2023, Piccoma, a major Japanese manga app, reached the monumental milestone of over $675 million in sales transactions within its app.
This exceeds any previous digital comics or manga service, signaling the massive profitability of digital manga distribution.
Piccoma’s parent company Kakao Corporation reported that this was the first time an app primarily focused on manga achieved over 100 billion yen in annual sales, approximately $675.2 million.
According to market analysis firm data.ai, Piccoma was ranked the 17th best-performing non-game app globally based on transaction volume.
When excluding gaming apps entirely, it placed 7th, surpassed only by digital titans like TikTok, YouTube, Disney+, and more.
The figures illustrate the explosion of growth in digital manga and Piccoma’s dominant status as a vital platform for the medium.
While names more popular to US audiences, like Manga Plus and Shonen Jump, also saw success, Piccoma’s milestone highlights it as leading the way forward in manga’s digital revolution.
Its unprecedented sales clearly showcase manga and anime’s strengthening hold on global entertainment.
Piccoma Surpasses $675 Million in Annual Sales, Leading the Industry’s Global Expansion
On the heels of this milestone, Piccoma’s CEO Kim Jaeyong expressed a commitment to nurturing further growth, saying, “We will make every effort to advance the global comics space by connecting users to even more enjoyable content.”
However, official platforms like Piccoma face challenges meeting demands for quick translations and accessibility, as well as combatting privacy. Recently, Kakao has taken aggressive actions against sites failing to address these issues.
In the past few weeks, Kakao targeted Tachiyomi, an immensely popular manga app that suspended development after Kakao’s actions. This follows Kakao identifying and reporting owners of another piracy site last December, leading to its closure.
Meanwhile, the official platform MANGA Plus aims to satisfy global readers through “simulpubs” – simultaneously publishing new manga chapters first released in Japan. This ensures minimal delays for international audiences.
As Piccoma and its partners confront obstacles like impatience and illegal distribution, their efforts underscore the complexities of managing a truly global, digital manga audience. Success requires balancing accessibility, timeliness, and copyright law amidst surging worldwide demand.
Korean Webtoons Propel Piccoma to New Heights in Japanese Manga Market
Although Piccoma is owned by the Korean company Kakao, it principally operates in the Japanese market, offering extremely popular manga like “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End,” “Golden Kamuy,” and “My Hero Academia” among its selections.
Interestingly, Korean webtoons known as manhwa have proven to be major drivers of Piccoma’s success. As the Korea Economic Daily spotlights, titles like “Solo Leveling” and “Surgeon Elise” rank among Piccoma’s most widely read series.
Both works have recently received anime adaptations to significant enthusiasm – “Solo Leveling” famously crashed Crunchyroll’s servers when it debuted and maintains stellar ratings on Crunchyroll and MyAnimeList.
While Piccoma features the very best of Japanese manga, the appetite for Korean webtoons globally cannot be understated.
The popularity of manhwa like “Solo Leveling” on Piccoma signals growing worldwide resonance with Korean comics specifically.
As webtoons receive anime, these hits thrust Piccoma alongside names like Crunchyroll as essential platforms linking fans to emerging cross-cultural media phenomena.
Manhwa’s influence supplements evergreen Japanese manga to drive Piccoma’s record sales.
Cracking Down on Manga Piracy
In tandem with providing premier digital access to top manga and manhwa, platforms like Piccoma are also cracking down on piracy damaging the booming industry.
Kakao recently uncovered the real-world identities of three key executives behind Tachiyomi – an immensely popular pirate app enabling free manga consumption.
This includes the elusive founder orchestrating operations.
Identifying actual people spearheading major piracy outlets enables impactful civil and criminal prosecution by Kakao and legal partners.
A Kakao spokesperson indicated this takedown will deal a meaningful blow to illegal manga distribution as a whole.
Kakao’s breakthrough comes via collaboration between its entertainment arm and prominent Japanese publishers equally invested in combatting rampant online manga piracy.
Experts say successfully taking legal action against human decision-makers behind Tachiyomi, not just a website, sets influential new precedents in enforcing copyright law.
It signals a pivotal shift toward holding influential individuals accountable for enabling piracy systems to thrive.
The fallout may deter other operations from driving mass access to illegal manga repositories.
While the exposed Tachiyomi founders now face immense scrutiny and court battles, the cooperation between Kakao and Japan represents a cross-border willingness to fight the piracy draining profits from the booming global manga industry.