Apple Makes Foray Into Korean Content In Nod To Rival Netflix's Success With 'Squid Game'

Apple Inc AAPL has released its first Korean-language original series “Dr. Brain” as the tech giant’s Apple TV+ service launched in South Korea.

What Happened: The Tim Cook-led company’s Korean-language foray comes after rival Netflix Inc NFLX saw huge success with “Squid Game” — a series involving a “Hunger Games” like fatal competition.

Dr. Brain, directed by Kim Jee-woon,  is based on a web-comic of the same name and is a six-episode science fiction thriller about a neurologist trying to track down clues linked to a family accident through brain experiments, reported Reuters.

"I hope Dr. Brain can prove there are diverse works in South Korea that cover a wide variety of genres, sensibilities and materials as much as previous mega hit Korean series,” said Kim, as per Reuters.

The series features Lee Sun-kyun of “Parasite” fame as the troubled neurologist. 
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Why It Matters: The series debuted on Nov. 4 when Apple TV+ launched in South Korea. 

The new service lags behind Netflix, which has featured both licensed and original Korean content for many years, Reuters noted.

In October, Squid game was set to surpass the 100 million viewing households mark and become Netflix’s most popular series.

Fast forward to this month, and Squid Game has already surpassed “Game of Thrones” for popularity on YouTube, a video streaming service from Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG.

Meanwhile, Netflix was in talks for a season 2 of Squid Games, while the service may have another potential winner in the form of “My Name.”

Price Action: On Friday, Apple shares closed nearly 1.4% higher at $149.99 in the regular session. On the same day, Netflix shares rose 3.81% in the regular session to $682.61. In the after-hours session, Apple and Netflix shares fell 0.17%and 0.35% respectively.

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