2021-05-25

91APP*-KY (stock code: 6741) has attracted a great deal of attention from the market, showing outstanding results on the first day of its listing. With an offering price of NT$66, 91APP’s stock price instantaneously rose to $145 at its opening and reached a high of NT$181. At the end of its debut, 91APP closed with NT$167, a 153% increase of its original price, with a remarkable market cap of approximately NT$20.1 billion. 

Ho Ying-Chi, chairman of 91APP, said that 91APP’s performance on the first day of listing has several important implications. First, it demonstrates that the capital market in Taiwan is affirmed and supported by the SaaS model and can also support the successful IPO of such new companies with high market cap. In the past, Taiwan was dominated by hardware manufacturing, with TSMC and MediaTek playing a pivotal role in the supply chain of semiconductor and electronics supply, and it was relatively new to the software service industry. As the first SaaS company listed on the TPEx, 91APP hopes that it will become the industry leader and open up a path to encourage more SaaS service providers to enter the capital market.

In addition, the success of 91APP can demonstrate to the retail industry the viability of the OMO model. With the impact of the current epidemic, the demand for an online presence available to brick and mortar retailers has become more urgent. The OMO service cloud pioneered by 91APP can help the industry break through the limitations of traditional brick and mortar retailers, and continue to serve customers through cloud services, acting as “In-Store Portal”.

Yang Ming-Fang, general manager of 91APP, has acknowledged that the current epidemic has caught many traditional brick and mortar retailers off guard. The 91APP team was immediately mobilized and were able to expediently launch the “Covid 19 Business Toolkit”. For retailers, this package provides a ‘Brand Specific’ real-link registration solution. The team integrated the official LINE account for each brand with the 1922 SMS real-link system. Despite the current epidemic, retailers can then take measures to increase their customer base. Additionally, with the aid of a virtual ‘In-Store Portal’, the store can continue to provide premium service to its customers, even when the customer is unable to visit the physical location. With this application, 91APP can improve retail online performance by seamlessly meshing online shopping with a large consumer base.

Ho Ying-Chi reiterated that this kind of rapid response ability, focusing on customer points, endeavoring to solve customer related issues is the working methodology of the 91APP team, and is the basis for 91APP’s continued profitability growth.