NAVER Corp. history, profile and corporate video
NAVER Corp. is a global ICT (Information and Communication Technology) company that operates the search portal “NAVER”. It is headquartered in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.
NAVER HISTORY
NAVER Corp. was founded as NAVER.com in 1999. That year, the company launched the search portal NAVER, the children’s portal Jr. NAVER, and the game portal Hangame
In 2000, Naver merged with Hangame Communications and One-Cue. It also acquired Search Solutions.
In 2001, NAVER.com changed its name to NHN (Next Human Network).
In 2003, the company acquired the digital content transmission technology company Future Valley.
In 2004, the game development studio NHN Games was established.
In 2005, the internet service management company NHN Services was established, and the online donation portal Happybean was launched.
In 2006, the company acquired the search company 1noon and the data storage management solution company Datachorus.
In 2007, the NHST (Next Human Search Technology) was established, and the game portal ijji.com was launched.
In 2009, the company established the Happybean Foundation and NHN Business Platform (NBP). It also acquired the micro-blogging platform me2day and the tour guide website Wingbus.
In 2010, the company established NHN Culture Foundation and NHN Investment, specializing in asset management and venture investment. That year, NHN Japan acquired livedoor.com.
In 2011, the smart device game development affiliate Orange Crew and NTS (NHN Technology Services) were established.
In 2013, LINE Plus and Camp Mobile were established.
In August 2013, NAVER Corporation and NHN Entertainment Corporation (formerly Hangame) decided to split.
In 2014, NAVER Corp. acquired NAVER Business Platform (NBP)’s advertising and platform businesses.
In 2015, Works Mobile was established, and the software education platform Entry Korea was acquired.
In 2016, SNOW, Inc. was established.
In 2017, NAVER acquired Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE). The R&D company NAVER Labs, Inc. and NAVER Webtoon Corp. were also established that year.
In 2018, NAVER merged with Camp Mobile.
In 2019, NAVER Financial was established.
NAVER’S SERVICES
- NAVER – one of world’s largest search portals.
- LINE – messaging app and other products in AI, fintech, payments, delivery, content, and more.
- NAVER CLOVA – an AI platform that incorporates speech, image recognition and artificial neural network translation into one interactive engine. CLOVA will be built into various NAVER and LINE products, NAVER’s smart speaker WAVE, Friends, and other third-party devices and services.
- Papago – an automated interpretation application that is useful for communicating in foreign languages. It integrates speech recognition, speech synthesis, machine translation, and character recognition.
- WHALE – a web browser with a “omni-tasking” feature that allows you to work from one window at a time without having to open multiple windows.
- NAVER Maps – a navigation app for walking or cycling, driving, or taking public transportation.
- V LIVE – allows celebrities to broadcast themselves live. V LIVE integrates K-Pop, beauty, fashion, musicals and TV drama content, and with features like “Channel Guide,” “V LIVE+”, “Multicam”, “V STORE,” “V Fansubs,” and various video features, V LIVE provides a unique platform for both celebrities and their fans worldwide.
- Webtoon – NAVER Webtoon has produced a number of best-selling authors, primarily through its unique competition-based system for promoting webtoons. It is also expanding its intellectual property business into publishing, movies and games.
- SERIES – a paid content platform that can consume 60,000 genre novels and cartoon contents.
- SNOW – a photo and video messenger for mobile with camera, photo and video editing and chat rolled into one. Users can bedazzle their selfies with SNOW’s face-recognition-based stickers or drop visual pins with the location-based stickers.
- BAND – a group communication app that integrates features like group messaging, notifications, calendars, RSVPs, pictures & videos, polls, signups, and more.
- AudioClip – an audio content platform for creating, experience and sharing audio content.
With more than 4,000 employees, NAVER Corporation is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World, according to Forbes.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.navercorp.com/en.
**Video published on YouTube by “PLAY NAVER“.