2013/12/03
LINE exceeds 300 million users
LINE, a Japanese application for instant messaging on smartphones and PCs exceeded 300 million users on 2013/11/25. The service started from 2011/6/23, reaching this milestone in only two years.
Although there were similar instant messaging and free phone service such as Skype and Messenger, LINE made its difference by adding “Stickers”, which have a variety and are widely adopted by young generations. LiviGen Inc., a research company specialized in smartphones, reported that only 2% of Japanese female high school students do not use this service when they did a research with 100 students.
LINE is also expanding worldwide. For example, they gave away Muslim celebration stickers in Indonesia where there are many Muslim when Ramadan was finished. Also they gave conscription stickers in Korea where it has conscription systems obligating every male citizen to undergo military training.
Reference： Toyo Keizai (http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/24940), MyNavi (http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2013/11/27/160/index.html)
Akiko
