Line bags 5 mn users in three weeks

Chat app eyes 10 million users in coming months with localised content such as Bollywood stickers

Within three weeks of its India entry, Japan's Line Corporation claims to have bagged five million registered users here. This isn't merely because people have taken to the Line app to try something new; this app also comes with a library of cute, funny and silly stickers to be shared free of cost.

Naturally, Line is now eyeing more users-10 million in a few months. It plans to introduce Bollywood stickers and localised content, initially in Hindi and Tamil.

Line is an app that allows feature phones, smartphones and personal computer users to make free calls and send instant messages. It also has an extensive library of stickers. It was developed by NHN Japan Corporation, a unit of Seoul-based NHN Corporation, which operates South Korean search engine Naver.

"Line is doing well in many countries, but India is the fastest. We see India as a strategic market and we plan to have an office in India soon," said Jun Masuda, chief strategy and marketing officer, Line Corp. Currently, the company is roping in people in India to develop India-specific content. It has already tied up with Nokia for a Line app pre-loaded with Nokia's Asha series. It also has a tie-up with Japan's Sony.

"We will extend such partnerships in India and would also look at partnering operators here for special data packs," Masuda said. "As of July 18, 100 million apps were downloaded on Google Play," he added.

Currently, Line has about 200 million users globally, with the largest bases in Japan (45 million), Taiwan (15 million), Thailand (15 million) and Spain (10 million).

Masuda believes Line could become the Asian alternative to social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter. Soon, Line would offer features such as games and news to its Indian consumers.

The company is also developing games in Indian languages.While the company hasn't publicly disclosed its financials, it has been reported the company's sales stood at about $58.1 million in the quarter ended March. The company has already turned profitable, it is reported.

Line's income comes from three different streams - sales of virtual stickers, games and sponsored content. For a monthly fee, it also sells space to corporates for official accounts. There are about 100 companies that pay for such accounts. Following Line's success with its unique 'sticker communications', companies such as Google and Facebook have already added digital stickers to their chat applications in the past few months. According to a recent study, Line has emerged as one of the most popular free downloads in 47 countries. However, in the US, it is a different story - it is yet to break into the top 100 apps on Apple's App Store in that country