Techcrunch reported the launch of Cyworld US, and judging from the comments, there seem to be far more people who think the service will never take off in the US than those who think the other way. It looks like people have been mostly bothered by the buggy site and overly cute design.
Techcrunch says Cyworld US office has 30 people and is ready to spend $10M+ but this is a bit of overestimation, at least for now -- according to an insider. But the parent company SK Communicaions indeed is a big company and that means they do have a pretty deep pocket. (SK Group is the third largest among big company groups, or chaebols, of Korea.)
My bet is also on the side that says Cyworld will not take off big time in the US. But even if the service flops, that will probably not mean Cyworld will quietly put their weapons down and retreat from the US market. In fact, Cyworld headquarter is up to a secret (well, at least supposedly so) project codenamed C2. Reportedly, about 50 brightest minds have been assigned to the project. After months of grinding effort, presumably consisting of endless think sessions and debates, the team recently published a 1,000 pages-long planning document. (C2 team writes an English blog here)
So, even if the original Cyworld doesn't get a huge success in the US, soon Cyworld will probably go at it again with the C2, which might potentially be a bigger threat to the incumbents such as Myspace. I mean, wouldn't any service worth a look, if 1,000 pages worth of effort has been put into it? It will be interesting to keep an eye on the US Cyworld, both the current one (C1) and the future one (C2).
Techcrunch says Cyworld US office has 30 people and is ready to spend $10M+ but this is a bit of overestimation, at least for now -- according to an insider. But the parent company SK Communicaions indeed is a big company and that means they do have a pretty deep pocket. (SK Group is the third largest among big company groups, or chaebols, of Korea.)
My bet is also on the side that says Cyworld will not take off big time in the US. But even if the service flops, that will probably not mean Cyworld will quietly put their weapons down and retreat from the US market. In fact, Cyworld headquarter is up to a secret (well, at least supposedly so) project codenamed C2. Reportedly, about 50 brightest minds have been assigned to the project. After months of grinding effort, presumably consisting of endless think sessions and debates, the team recently published a 1,000 pages-long planning document. (C2 team writes an English blog here)
Source: c2.cyworld.com/factory
