Cyworld Expands Deep Into Realm of China

wildly successful mini-hompy model takes root in China

[GrendelKhan TSU]

Well...its in US via lycos' (daum's) PLANET (and cyworld will enter the market soon enough) with results to be seen...

but looks like Cyworld's venture in China before hitting the US is paying off...

700,000 Chinese had subscribed to their services only five months after its debut in the worldĄŻs most populous country. ...

Cyworld is currently creating a crest in China as roughly 10,000 sign up for our service everyday.

full article: [times.hankooki.com...]

so like...what up with Japan there bill? come on...EVERYYYYONEEES doin it. :p

[bill]

That's pretty impressive market penetration there. The only reason I could think of for the lack of Japan market uptake, without any research to back it up, would simply be because it is from Korea. Despite the relative relaxation of barriers between the two countries of late, there's still quite a bit of animosity bubbling under the surface.

You remember that Naver stopped service in Japan [webmasterworld.com] at the beginning of this year. This is despite the fact that Korean pop stars and actors are doing a booming trade in Japan. If I see another Bae Yong-jun (aka Yon-sama) commercial, poster, flier, pamphlet, coffee cup, screen-saver or....aaaaaah! This guy's everywhere!

I really don't understand why Cyworld couldn't take off in Japan other than the silly xenophobic reasons. There are some home-grown services but they don't seem to be quite as addictive.