"More beautiful than in real life?" The 20s' 'trend' caused a frenzy... and I never thought it would collapse like this in the end.

Profile picture created using the AI photo transformation app 'Snow' (right) [Instagram screenshot]

 

Herald Economy = Reporter Park Young-hoon] "Freshness has disappeared and the correction effect is excessive"

 

Naver 'Snow', an AI profile picture service that gained explosive popularity among women in their 20s and 30s.

It appears that the monthly users have decreased by over one million within a year.

 

Snow is a service that uses AI technology to transform users' photos into profile pictures or emotional photos. For 3,300 won, the AI provides 30 photos generated in various styles, offering a range of profile picture services depending on the amount paid.

 

It gained great popularity as word of mouth spread that it creates photos better than real life.

 

According to IGAWorks Mobile Index, Snow's monthly active users (MAU) for October last year was 3.83 million, a decrease of over 1 million compared to the same period last year (4.9 million). It once increased to 6 million last year but has continued to decline since then, maintaining in the 3 million range.

Snow achieved sales of 68.5 billion won last year, gaining great popularity among women in their 20s and 30s. Sales increased by more than three times compared to the previous year (19.2 billion won).

 

With the advantage of easily obtaining high-quality profile photos that look like they were taken in a professional studio, it quickly attracted users. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, also gained significant attention by sharing their AI-generated photos on their social media accounts.

 

Google Play selected 'Snow' as the Best App of last year. It was praised for integrating AI technology into daily life and causing a sensation on social media worldwide.

 

However, its popularity has significantly declined over the past year. The initial freshness has faded, and users have lost interest due to excessive editing styles, leading to an accelerated decline.

Users said, "The initial sense of wonder has now turned into boredom," and "There are many cases where excessive correction makes the appearance look very different from reality."

 

Nevertheless, Naver continues to have high expectations for Snow, citing steady growth in paid subscribers and the diverse applications enabled by AI technology. On the other hand, Kakao has completely discontinued Snow and the similar AI profile picture service.

 

Meanwhile, it was found that the main users of Snow are women in their 20s and 30s. According to the mobile index, a big data analysis platform, women in their 20s account for 27% and women in their 30s account for 23% of all Snow users, making up half of the total.

 

Park Young-hoon park@heraldcorp.com

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