Line instant messenger passes 200m downloads

Alan O'Doherty

July 23, 2013

The Japanese Line instant messenger app has achieved 200 million registered users worldwide roughly two years after its original launch.

The multi-platform app is available on iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Nokia Asha and feature phones and functions much like other instant messenger apps like the ubiquitous Whatsapp.

Line’s impressive sounding user base may be slightly misleading, however. As Techcrunch reported the 200 million figure reflects overall downloads, not regular engagement, and the company does not publish the number of sent/received messages making it harder to judge whether Line is managing to compete in the instant message app marketplace.

Line does publish revenues made from in-app sales, mostly from ‘sticker packs’ which users can attach to messages, and reported earnings of $58.9 million in the first quarter of this year. However, with almost 80% of these coming from within Japan it seems that Line is struggling to break out of its home market.

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