Mobile messenger war in full swing

Following the new trend of the popularity of smartphones, content providers are stepping up efforts to strengthen their mobile contents, especially in messenger services.

The three most popular mobile messengers in Korea ― Kakao Talk, Line and My People ― are quickly evolving to provide more diverse services due to their potential as a new platform to increase company earnings.

Daum Communication, which owns and manages mobile messenger My People, announced Friday that it has vastly upgraded the profile menu of the service. Subscribers can now post up to 5,000 pictures for their profile and sent multiple pictures at once to chatting partners.

“My People, used by 22 million users, allows free messages, free voice and video calls and while being connected with Daum’s map service, cloud and mail through Daum IDs,” said a Daum spokeswoman. “Our messenger also allows cross chatting between the PC version My People and our mobile version and our immensely popular for office workers.”

Unlike Kakao Talk which only allows users to post multiple pictures if they join its social network service Kakao Story, the spokeswoman says all initial users of My People can use the service without any additional requirements.

Though My People was the first domestic mobile messenger to launch, it is the least popular among the three: Daum says the company is constantly monitoring the service to maintain its strong portion in the domestic market.

Daum’s rival in web portal NHN is also promoting its Line, showing its well known strong drive to get things done.

With its titular green as background, NHN has been edging hard to differentiate itself from competitors. Line boasts the most stickers ― emoticons usable during chat ― which opened a new line of profit thanks to the popularity of app stores that sell them in Asia.

“NHN’s main strength is that once the company chooses to initiate a project, it knows how to focus its resources to bring out quick result,” said an industry executive, who declined to be named. “Once they set out on an area, they always end up overtaking it rivals to become the top.”

NHN’s messenger was launched on June of last year, the latest to join the competition while My People and Kakao Talk started service in May two years ago. As the official says, Line gathered 10 million members within six month and overtook My People.

The service is also the most “global” among rivals. While the majority of users of My People and Kakao Talk are here, NHN has made a more noticeable dent overseas, especially in Japan. Line is currently No.1 in both popularity and brand image among apps.

According a survey by Japanese app developer Halo, Line was ranked at the top as “smartphone users’ favorite app.”

In total subscribers, the undisputable leader is Kakao Talk which has over 53 million users, with 35 million of them based in Korea.

Kakao Talk is planning different kinds of profitable services such as games and social commerce to connect it with the messenger. A new game platform will be launched next month in collaboration with partner WeMade Entertainment, and a social commerce for the second half of the year.

Kakao Talk, which has the second most foreign users, is also eyeing overseas market. As around 15 percent of its investors are based in China, it is speculated that the cross-over to China will be smooth for the service. The Chinese version is expected to be released sometime in the second half, according to company spokesperson.

As all three firms are offering somewhat similar services such as mobile voice over Internet protocol and app stores, all three firms are developing ways to add its own distinctive colors and pushing new contents that will increase company earnings. <The Korea Times/Cho Mu-hyun>

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