Models demonstrate T Map Mobility’s parking app in this photo provided by SK Telecom Co.
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — After suffering sluggish performance in the designated driver service market, T Map Mobility Co. is exploring new ways to catch up to rival Kakao Mobility Corp, South Korea’s top taxi-hailing company.
The mobility unit under telecom operator SK Telecom Co. plans to integrate two independent apps – T Map Parking and T Map – into a single app by next week and provide an integrated service, according to industry sources.
The T Map Parking is a mediation service designed to allow users to search for the location and cost of parking lots, while offering users the ability to make reservations and pay through the app.
The company also plans to roll out a car rental mediation service by the first quarter of this year. To this end, it joined hands with the nation’s top rent-a-car app Carmore.
In addition, the company intends to turn one of its navigation functions – truck navigation – into an independent service, aimed at developing it into a B2B (business-to-business) business model connecting truckers with companies in need of their services.
Despite having a market size of about 30 trillion won (US$24.9 billion), about five times larger than that of last-mile service, including parcel deliveries, the middle-mile service offered by truckers remains a blue ocean without being tapped by large platforms.
Tmap is also reviewing the idea of developing a “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) app that enables users to enjoy a variety of mobility services in a single app like Kakao T.
Market analysts said that given that Kakao currently exercises weak or no influence in these areas, there is a potential that Tmap will be able to get the upper hand in its new ventures.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
