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I've been a big Line user ever since I moved to Taiwan two years ago (and subsequently moved back to Hong Kong) Taiwan has embedded Line into their social norm

I've been a big Line user ever since I moved to Taiwan two years ago (and subsequently moved back to Hong Kong) Taiwan has embedded Line into their social norms in the same way as most countries have done with Facebook. It's safe to assume that anyone you encounter, regardless of age or social status, is available on Line. The branding is also very pervasive, doing promotions with convenience stores, clothing, toilet paper, and anything else you can think of. It's won over Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. It's gradually winning over Korea. (there were at least 5 merchandise stores in Seoul a few months ago) However, growing out of those core markets hasn't worked so well. Hong Kong has been targeted for a few years (opening a flagship store, and a few pop-up shops), and it gets reasonable use over here. But it's not managing to kick WhatsApp or wechat. (I saw a recent stat of 35% of users) So if they can't win over Hong Kong, I'm not sure how it'd work on Europe or North America where their "asian cute style" branding doesn't win them so many bonus points.

rahimnathwani 10y ago
It's interesting you bring up the contrast between Line/WeChat usage between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Perhaps people in Hong Kong are more likely to have frequent contact with acquaintances in mainland China, than are people in Taiwan. I'm not sure it's about cultural differences or branding. Just path dependence.
- sidek 10y ago
  Anecdotally: it isn't just proximity to mainland China. It's proximity to China and the West. Depending on what social groups you run in, you're more likely to use both facebook/tumblr/etc and/or Chinese social networks. A lot of people I know had Line, but most of them didn't really use it for messaging-- just the games, especially TsumTsum.
  - rahimnathwani 10y ago
    Yes, the point I made about HK/mainland and WeChat applies equally to HK/Western and WhatsApp/FB.

rahimnathwani 10y ago

It's interesting you bring up the contrast between Line/WeChat usage between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Perhaps people in Hong Kong are more likely to have frequent contact with acquaintances in mainland China, than are people in Taiwan. I'm not sure it's about cultural differences or branding. Just path dependence.

sidek 10y ago
Anecdotally: it isn't just proximity to mainland China. It's proximity to China and the West. Depending on what social groups you run in, you're more likely to use both facebook/tumblr/etc and/or Chinese social networks. A lot of people I know had Line, but most of them didn't really use it for messaging-- just the games, especially TsumTsum.
- rahimnathwani 10y ago
  Yes, the point I made about HK/mainland and WeChat applies equally to HK/Western and WhatsApp/FB.