ABKO has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a PC accessories business in the Yongsan Electronics Market in 2001. In December 2020, the company listed on the KOSDAQ market with its best performance ever, recording KRW 153.2 billion in sales and KRW 23.5 billion in operating profits. The company, known for creating the world’s first fully waterproof optical axis keyboard, has the largest market share in Korea for gaming keyboards, headsets, and PC cases. It is currently expanding into international markets, investing in the US and the UK. Kwang-geun Oh, ABKO’s CEO, largely attributes this momentum to Coupang.

“Growth on Coupang was a turning point for our company to go public,” said Kwang-geun. ABKO partnered with Coupang in 2018, based on Kwang-geun’s goal of capturing the rapidly growing e-commerce market and his conviction that the speed and reliability of Rocket Delivery would be a game changer. “I thought that customers would be captivated by Rocket Delivery, so I focused heavily on Coupang, improving product quality and marketing and hiring professional staff,” said Kwang-geun. “Many of our competitors were not interested in Rocket Delivery, but our view was firm.”

Kwang-geun’s decision was transformational for his company. Eight years ago, 90% of ABKO’s sales came from brick-and-mortar internet cafes, but now 90% of its sales come from online, with Coupang being the No. 1 distribution channel. In particular, Kwang-geun found Coupang to be vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many offline sources of sales shut down for business. “In 2020, Coupang sales more than tripled from 2019, and the company benefited greatly during such a difficult time,” said Kwang-geun, noting how ABKO was able to thrive despite the hardships from the pandemic.

Thanks to Coupang, Kwang-geun has been finally able to realize his full vision for his company that he had from its very inception. “For the past 20 years, my dream was to go global,” he said. “As an unlisted company, it was difficult for us to achieve further growth and employment, but now we have the competitiveness to go global and continue to grow.”