NHN’s Line rises; Kakao Talk stalls

Line, a smartphone messenger application created by NHN is emerging as Asia’s leading SMS tool as a growing number of people in the region are using it for instant communication.

The free call or message service now boasts 100 million users, according to NHN officials, Monday.

The growth is partly based on Line’s cute “sticker’’ (icons or image) feature, which could best be described as next-generation emoticons and analysts say the popularity is impressive amid staggering moves of Kakao Talk.

“The 100 million mark is a milestone as that means the Korean information technology service is proving its competitiveness globally,’’ said an NHN spokeswoman, adding Line users exceeded 94 million as of last week. Line is downloaded 500,000 times on average every day.

Unlike Line, Kakao Talk is stalling as it has failed to increase its base from some 70 million users, said analysts and officials.

Since its launch in June 2011, Line offers services in 230 countries. In 41, the application is the favored ahead of Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Although Line was only on iOS and Android at first, there are now versions for Windows and Macs too.

The app was designed, created and marketed by an NHN team in Tokyo, Japan.

The spokeswoman said over 10 million people in each of Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia use the app and the company is shifting its sights to Spain.

“We are becoming aggressive in promoting the service. For example, we introduced a second sticker version in Thailand thanks to the popularity of the first one. NHN will try hard to create the revenue we want,’’ said the spokeswoman.

While local Web portals such as Daum are struggling to expand their presence outside the Korean Peninsula due to the lack of killer products and limited marketing budgets, NHN, the nation’s leading portal site, is aiming higher yet.

According to Kang Hyun-bin, head of the Line business, the target is 300 million to 400 million users by the end of this year as new features such as mobile gaming will be added. <The Korea Times/Kim Yoo-chul>