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[Apha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Due to the steep increase in the domestic golf population, the golf business promoted by Kakao Games through its subsidiary Kakao VX is gaining momentum.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, Kakao Games' sales in the non-game sector reached 346.4 billion won last year, up 143 percent from a year earlier (142.5 billion won).
Behind the rise in performance is the golf business. Among non-game sales, golf sales reached 177.6 billion won, up 53.5% from the previous year (115.7 billion won). Analysts say that the increase in the number of golf people seeking screen golf after the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has been the main reason for the high growth of their businesses.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Korea Golf Association with Kyung Hee University's Golf Industry Research Institute, the number of people playing golf in Korea stood at 11.76 million as of 2021, up 16.4 percent from 2017.
Kakao VX is expanding into sports and healthcare such as 'Friends Screen', a screen golf brand, 'Kakao Golf Reservation', a golf platform, and 'Smart Home', which combines information technology (IT) and healthcare. Friends Screen ranks second in the domestic screen golf industry after Golf Zone Park.
The number of sellers, including franchises, has increased rapidly over the past three years. According to KakaoVX, the number of friends screen stores increased by 400 to 500 each year from 1,500 in 2020 to 1,900 in 2021 and 2,400 in 2022.
The screen golf business has also expanded to China. Kakao VX established 'Taesik Sangmu Limited' and 'Shanghai Jiswing Sports Goods Limited' in Beijing and Shanghai, China, respectively, and steadily increased the number of screen golf sales. As of the end of last year, there were 400 sellers in China.
Kakao Golf Reservation has also introduced various services to secure users. After COVID-19, a non-face-to-face self-check-in was introduced to enhance the convenience of users. The number of non-face-to-face self-check-in users reaches 140,000 a year, and the usage rate of some stores exceeds 90%.
As of the end of last year, the cumulative number of Kakao golf reservations exceeded 1.42 million, up 1.3 times (33%) from the previous year.
AlphaBIZ 폴 리(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
