[99뉴스]Will’Naver X Big Hit’ catch fans?. Apple is’quarterly sales of 100 trillion’!

<블로터>Happening every day ITWe will inform you of the industry issues. ‘IT News‘end 99‘That scans you in seconds99News’, please press the play button!

① Naver X Big Hit, the emergence of’fandom platform’?

Naver invests in BTS’ agency, Big Hit Entertainment. Naver provided technology and Big Hit secured an artist pool.

Big Hit held its board of directors on the 27th and made a resolution and publicized the agenda for subsidiary beNX to take over Naver’s VLive business unit.

Naver will invest a total of 4118 billion won in BNX to acquire a 49% stake and become the second largest shareholder. BNX’s mission will be changed to’WEVERSE COMPANY Inc.’.

Naver and Big Hit plan to create a new fan community by combining’V Live’ and’Weverse’, which are operated by the two companies respectively. Big Hit will lead the project for the integration period scheduled for about one year, and Naver will focus on its service and technological capabilities that will firmly support the business.

Naver and Big Hit have been competing in the fan community platform market, which has emerged as’entertainment food’. The size of the related market is estimated at 8 trillion won, and the merger of the two companies is expected to generate synergy without overlapping investment.

② Apple becomes’Golden Apple’

Apple recorded $114.1 billion in revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 (October-December 2020). It is the first time that Hanwha has reached 124 trillion in sales, and it has exceeded $100 billion in quarterly sales.

Compared to the previous year, total sales and earnings per share increased by 21% and 24%, respectively. Operating profit also recorded 33.5 billion dollars (about 37 trillion won), soaring more than 31% during the same period. Tim Cook, Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said, “Consumers were hotly reacting to Apple’s cutting-edge product line that is unmatched during the holiday season.”

Cellular phone sales increased 17% year-on-year, and iPad and MacBook sales surged 41% and 21% during the same period, leading to a’storm’ growth. Due to Corona 19, work from home increased, and sales of devices such as MacBooks and iPads increased.

Usually, the iPhone’s portion of sales in the first quarter exceeded 60%. On the other hand, this year, even though the iPhone recorded the highest sales ever, the proportion was below 60%. It is encouraging in that the’iPhone focus phenomenon’ has decreased as various products have been sold well.

However, Apple did not provide a second-quarter earnings forecast in the conference call and did not mention the “Apple Car” that attracts investors.

③ Naver, SME/creator achievement’wing’

Last year, Naver posted annual sales of 5,3041 trillion won and operating profit of 1,225.3 billion won. While search and display support sales, it is interpreted as a result of consistent growth in each sector, such as commerce, fintech, and content, centering on both small and medium-sized business (SME) and creators.

Sales by business division in the fourth quarter were ▲Search Platform 7702 billion ▲Commerce 3168 billion Won ▲Fintech 2011 billion Won ▲Content 138.9 billion Won ▲Cloud 86.2 billion Won.

Naver is expected to continue aggressive investment this year. It will target the global market, focusing on the e-commerce market such as shopping, which is undergoing’stormy growth’. To this end, it is planning to raise investment funds by issuing corporate bonds at home and abroad in the first half of the year.

Naver plans to invest so that it can expand to the global ecosystem by creating a window for Korean SMEs that have entered the smart store to advance overseas. In the commerce ecosystem, it plans to continue investing in the content business to strengthen membership.