Korea's CDNetworks Expands in U.S.

Korean content delivery provider CDNetworks has expanded into the United States, and its data center footprint is growing as it seeks to take market share from Akamai (AKAM) and Limelight Networks (LLNW). CDNetworks has established nine content storage points in the U.S. market and plans to expand to 30 sites over the next 12 to 18 months, according to Steve Chung, vice president of business development. Current U.S. sites are located in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and San Jose.

"The U.S. is a big focus for us," Chung told Reuters earlier this week. "With growth in China and Japan, all in total, we think we are well positioned to take the number two spot (in the CDN market)." CDNetworks went public on South Korea's KOSDAQ in 2005. Frost & Sullivan CDNetworks has 8 percent of the worldwide market for content delivery, trailing Limelight (9 percent) and market leader Akamai (60 percent).

South Korea has the world's highest consumer broadband penetration rate, as well as immersive gaming culture that includes the world's second-largest MMO (NCSoft's Lineage) and huge following for Blizzard's Starcraft, which is the battleground of choice for Korea's professional gaming leagues.

CDNetworks said that its experience in early-adopter markets like Korea and Japan will prove valuable as video and gaming proliferate in the United States. "These are laboratories for the future of digital media," Chung said. "We have an early look at how the world of content delivery may evolve."