6 ms·

Messaging App Line Now Brings in Nearly $100M a Quarter

60 points by yipct 13y ago

hajderr 13y ago
Ye good stuff. Prefer line over the spying app Viber
- kaushikt 13y ago
  spying app ? I think i am missing something here. I use Viber all the time.
  - hajderr 13y ago
    This is what I got from a quick search. http://grahamcluley.com/2013/07/viber-hacked-syrian-electronic-army/ http://grahamcluley.com/2013/07/viber-hacked-syrian-electron...
  - the1 13y ago
    1. install viber 2. check allow install apps from unknown sources 3. get spywares installed.
hkmurakami 13y ago
Bemusing to see this after my friend (who is an engineer at LINE) bemoaned the seeming lack of recognition of the company in the States.
- bolder88 13y ago
  Probably the lack of recognition is due to it making money. Being profitable is so "old economy".
- yipct 13y ago
  I think they are trying hard to localize their emoji to crack into the States, based on this blog post: http://www.oneskyapp.com/blog/secret-monetizing-messaging-apps-localizing-emoji/ http://www.oneskyapp.com/blog/secret-monetizing-messaging-ap...
- ddeck 13y ago
  I'm curious, do they advertise in the US? In Asia (HK/Singapore at least), LINE have TV commercials and various promotional efforts with bricks and motor stores (e.g. soft toy versions of their stickers after $x of purchases at 7-Eleven).
daniel-levin 13y ago
> followed by stickers, which make up another 20 percent of their sales That's a shitload (approx 20m USD) of stickers edit: a line
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  They have 49MM users in Japan alone, and Japanese users are famously loose with digital goods spending (their mobile gamers spend many times that of counterparts abroad).
  - daniel-levin 13y ago
    Do you have any references to this?
    - ivanca 13y ago
      They are way ahead of any other Asian country. http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2012/12/4/1354624661973/Screen_Shot_2012-12-04_at_09.56.51.png http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/... http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2012/dec/04/ios-android-revenues-downloads-country http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2012/dec/04/i...
  - HowardMei 13y ago
    But it's not recurring revenue. I can't imagine someone keep buying 10+ packs of stickers. Only stickers, no game credits? There's something I fail to understand here.
    - idProQuo 13y ago
      You simply lack the imagination ;) People buy the new sticker packs so that they'll have stickers nobody else has. Other people will start getting these new sticker packs, and thus the "trendsetters" need new sticker packs in order to maintain their uniqueness. LINE is happy to keep releasing new stickers to feed this cycle.
    - 13y ago
josephagoss 13y ago
Can someone figure out if they are selling more in digital stickers than traditional stickers. If they sell $80 worth of stickers per year (If they keep up $20M per quarter in sticker revenue) I wonder what the output for all USA sticker sales would be.
recuter 13y ago
So this is an Asian WhatsApp type thing that capitalized on its stickyness to push games and stickers? What is the formula for the meteoric rise?
- madeofpalk 13y ago
  > WhatsApp That's funny, because the only people I ever saw WhatsApp were Chinese.
  - mattw1810 13y ago
    Don't forget the Dutch, it's used by pretty much every smartphone user over here.
    - madeofpalk 13y ago
      Oh I'm sure it is. I've heard it's popular in Southern America as well? I'm just speaking from my experiance in Australia: WhatsApp is a Chinese thing.
      - smtddr 13y ago
        FWIW, WhatsApp is huge in Nigeria; at least the major cities like Lagos.
      - wcfields 13y ago
        Everyone in Mexico uses it too
  - jemeshsu 13y ago
    WeChat from China has close to 400 million users, bigger than Line from Japan at over 200 million. These two dominates Asia, at distant third is KakaoTalk from Korea. WeChat is strongest in China, where Line is Japan/Taiwan. WhatsApp and even Facebook has to worry, as all my younger relatives are sharing status/photos in WeChat, abandoning Facebook.
  - j03w 13y ago
rilut 13y ago
From my personal experience, Line isn't as reliable as WhatsApp in bad network connection. And the "Line Event" account is somewhat spammy.
anyfoo 13y ago
I also use LINE, mainly because stickers are... a lot of fun, surprisingly (though I just use the plentiful free ones).
iamjustinm 13y ago
Living in the Philippines where I watched Line take control I asked many Filipinos what they like the most and why - More free stickers, larger variety (this is by far the #1 reason. The line stickers are fantastic and there's many different characters and expressions. You get at least 100 free and they release new free ones often) - First to allow sending short videos - Constant commercials running on major television - They don't send as much notification spam as KakaoTalk or Viber
wf 13y ago
My friends and I are are huge users of line (we're in the US) and have been for a long time. When a large portion of our group of friends went to Japan it allowed us to message in a group without any extra charges and stickers (the digital kind) are REALLY REALLY fun.[1] I would say I've spent around 10-12 dollars (5-6 packs) on stickers in the last 6 months alone. I was actually more confused when I came across things like Group Me and WhatsApp because they're not as fun as Line imo (I later figured out that it wasn't really marketed in the US). The gimmicks for me to get new stickers are also insanely effective, e.g. downloading other Naver/Line apps/games and adding sponsored accounts (like Rafael Nadal) to get free stickers. [1]They have stickers for basically everything, from Japanese animes to Disney Characters to Snoop Dog. They also do special occasion stickers, like Halloween etc. The original stickers were none of those though, just a few original characters they thought up. In fact my favorite sticker is one of their originals, "Brown": http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RNLBc7XVLm8/UVl9flhwIiI/AAAAAAAAAOE/1ZbFUbfHq7o/s1600/photo+%281%29.PNG http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RNLBc7XVLm8/UVl9flhwIiI/AAAAAAAAAO...
rkrzr 13y ago
Does anybody know what technology stack Line is running on? Do they use Erlang for their backend like WhatsApp?
- uniclaude 13y ago
  IIRC, No Erlang to be seen there. Line uses mostly C++ and Java, and this is reflected in their job offers[1]. [1]:https://linecorp.com/career/position/ https://linecorp.com/career/position/
- sanxiyn 13y ago
  In April 2012, LINE used Thrift API talking to Redis caching HBase backing up to MySQL. http://tech.naver.jp/blog/?p=1420 http://tech.naver.jp/blog/?p=1420
uniclaude 13y ago
I have a hard time understanding how WhatsApp could take any market from Line where they dominate, and this is not only because of the stickers, but mostly because the application itself offers an objectively superior experience. Line feels like an universally available, polished, and wannabe cute version of iMessage, while WhatsApp feels like a clunky and poorly designed app that you're supposed to pay. Moreover, Line has a desktop client, which, even if not as well done as their mobile app, does not have the bloat of Skype. Where I live, in Japan, people use Line so much that even without a Facebook account, I do not feel disconnected anymore. I know what is going to happen, and my friends have no overhead to reach me. This said, I would totally understand if it can not reach the US or some European countries, where people would not be attracted by the very Asian cuteness that comes with it.
axisms 13y ago
It's been pronoun for messaging service in Japan. like I will line you. Meet in the line. like..google it
snake_plissken 13y ago
Can someone explain the stickers thing? Basically, people are buying new created emoji to use in their messages?
calbear81 13y ago
I joined Line in the last month mainly because my girlfriend thought the stickers were really cute and as we started to use it more and more we have found it a very effective way to convey how we're feeling or for a quick check-in with a "sweet dreams" or a "hi!" sticker without having to type out a message. I started creating new group chats with different sets of friend and find myself sharing photos and texts to selective groups instead of broadcasting them on Facebook and tagging those I want to notice it. I also feel like I have a choice on whose messages/stickers I want to see whereas on Facebook I'm constantly ingesting the entire feed.

60 points by yipct 13y ago

hajderr 13y ago

Ye good stuff. Prefer line over the spying app Viber

kaushikt 13y ago
spying app ? I think i am missing something here. I use Viber all the time.
- hajderr 13y ago
  This is what I got from a quick search. http://grahamcluley.com/2013/07/viber-hacked-syrian-electronic-army/ http://grahamcluley.com/2013/07/viber-hacked-syrian-electron...
- the1 13y ago
  1. install viber 2. check allow install apps from unknown sources 3. get spywares installed.

hkmurakami 13y ago

Bemusing to see this after my friend (who is an engineer at LINE) bemoaned the seeming lack of recognition of the company in the States.

bolder88 13y ago
Probably the lack of recognition is due to it making money. Being profitable is so "old economy".
yipct 13y ago
I think they are trying hard to localize their emoji to crack into the States, based on this blog post: http://www.oneskyapp.com/blog/secret-monetizing-messaging-apps-localizing-emoji/ http://www.oneskyapp.com/blog/secret-monetizing-messaging-ap...
ddeck 13y ago
I'm curious, do they advertise in the US? In Asia (HK/Singapore at least), LINE have TV commercials and various promotional efforts with bricks and motor stores (e.g. soft toy versions of their stickers after $x of purchases at 7-Eleven).

daniel-levin 13y ago

> followed by stickers, which make up another 20 percent of their sales That's a shitload (approx 20m USD) of stickers edit: a line

hkmurakami 13y ago
They have 49MM users in Japan alone, and Japanese users are famously loose with digital goods spending (their mobile gamers spend many times that of counterparts abroad).
- daniel-levin 13y ago
  Do you have any references to this?
  - ivanca 13y ago
    They are way ahead of any other Asian country. http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2012/12/4/1354624661973/Screen_Shot_2012-12-04_at_09.56.51.png http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/... http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2012/dec/04/ios-android-revenues-downloads-country http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2012/dec/04/i...
- HowardMei 13y ago
  But it's not recurring revenue. I can't imagine someone keep buying 10+ packs of stickers. Only stickers, no game credits? There's something I fail to understand here.
  - idProQuo 13y ago
    You simply lack the imagination ;) People buy the new sticker packs so that they'll have stickers nobody else has. Other people will start getting these new sticker packs, and thus the "trendsetters" need new sticker packs in order to maintain their uniqueness. LINE is happy to keep releasing new stickers to feed this cycle.
  - 13y ago

josephagoss 13y ago

Can someone figure out if they are selling more in digital stickers than traditional stickers. If they sell $80 worth of stickers per year (If they keep up $20M per quarter in sticker revenue) I wonder what the output for all USA sticker sales would be.

recuter 13y ago

So this is an Asian WhatsApp type thing that capitalized on its stickyness to push games and stickers? What is the formula for the meteoric rise?

madeofpalk 13y ago
> WhatsApp That's funny, because the only people I ever saw WhatsApp were Chinese.
- mattw1810 13y ago
  Don't forget the Dutch, it's used by pretty much every smartphone user over here.
  - madeofpalk 13y ago
    Oh I'm sure it is. I've heard it's popular in Southern America as well? I'm just speaking from my experiance in Australia: WhatsApp is a Chinese thing.
    - smtddr 13y ago
      FWIW, WhatsApp is huge in Nigeria; at least the major cities like Lagos.
    - wcfields 13y ago
      Everyone in Mexico uses it too
- jemeshsu 13y ago
  WeChat from China has close to 400 million users, bigger than Line from Japan at over 200 million. These two dominates Asia, at distant third is KakaoTalk from Korea. WeChat is strongest in China, where Line is Japan/Taiwan. WhatsApp and even Facebook has to worry, as all my younger relatives are sharing status/photos in WeChat, abandoning Facebook.
- j03w 13y ago

rilut 13y ago

From my personal experience, Line isn't as reliable as WhatsApp in bad network connection. And the "Line Event" account is somewhat spammy.

anyfoo 13y ago

I also use LINE, mainly because stickers are... a lot of fun, surprisingly (though I just use the plentiful free ones).

iamjustinm 13y ago

Living in the Philippines where I watched Line take control I asked many Filipinos what they like the most and why - More free stickers, larger variety (this is by far the #1 reason. The line stickers are fantastic and there's many different characters and expressions. You get at least 100 free and they release new free ones often) - First to allow sending short videos - Constant commercials running on major television - They don't send as much notification spam as KakaoTalk or Viber

wf 13y ago

My friends and I are are huge users of line (we're in the US) and have been for a long time. When a large portion of our group of friends went to Japan it allowed us to message in a group without any extra charges and stickers (the digital kind) are REALLY REALLY fun.[1] I would say I've spent around 10-12 dollars (5-6 packs) on stickers in the last 6 months alone. I was actually more confused when I came across things like Group Me and WhatsApp because they're not as fun as Line imo (I later figured out that it wasn't really marketed in the US). The gimmicks for me to get new stickers are also insanely effective, e.g. downloading other Naver/Line apps/games and adding sponsored accounts (like Rafael Nadal) to get free stickers. [1]They have stickers for basically everything, from Japanese animes to Disney Characters to Snoop Dog. They also do special occasion stickers, like Halloween etc. The original stickers were none of those though, just a few original characters they thought up. In fact my favorite sticker is one of their originals, "Brown": http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RNLBc7XVLm8/UVl9flhwIiI/AAAAAAAAAOE/1ZbFUbfHq7o/s1600/photo+%281%29.PNG http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RNLBc7XVLm8/UVl9flhwIiI/AAAAAAAAAO...

rkrzr 13y ago

Does anybody know what technology stack Line is running on? Do they use Erlang for their backend like WhatsApp?

uniclaude 13y ago
IIRC, No Erlang to be seen there. Line uses mostly C++ and Java, and this is reflected in their job offers[1]. [1]:https://linecorp.com/career/position/ https://linecorp.com/career/position/
sanxiyn 13y ago
In April 2012, LINE used Thrift API talking to Redis caching HBase backing up to MySQL. http://tech.naver.jp/blog/?p=1420 http://tech.naver.jp/blog/?p=1420

uniclaude 13y ago

I have a hard time understanding how WhatsApp could take any market from Line where they dominate, and this is not only because of the stickers, but mostly because the application itself offers an objectively superior experience. Line feels like an universally available, polished, and wannabe cute version of iMessage, while WhatsApp feels like a clunky and poorly designed app that you're supposed to pay. Moreover, Line has a desktop client, which, even if not as well done as their mobile app, does not have the bloat of Skype. Where I live, in Japan, people use Line so much that even without a Facebook account, I do not feel disconnected anymore. I know what is going to happen, and my friends have no overhead to reach me. This said, I would totally understand if it can not reach the US or some European countries, where people would not be attracted by the very Asian cuteness that comes with it.

axisms 13y ago

It's been pronoun for messaging service in Japan. like I will line you. Meet in the line. like..google it

snake_plissken 13y ago

Can someone explain the stickers thing? Basically, people are buying new created emoji to use in their messages?

calbear81 13y ago

I joined Line in the last month mainly because my girlfriend thought the stickers were really cute and as we started to use it more and more we have found it a very effective way to convey how we're feeling or for a quick check-in with a "sweet dreams" or a "hi!" sticker without having to type out a message. I started creating new group chats with different sets of friend and find myself sharing photos and texts to selective groups instead of broadcasting them on Facebook and tagging those I want to notice it. I also feel like I have a choice on whose messages/stickers I want to see whereas on Facebook I'm constantly ingesting the entire feed.