Line is flatlining

Image credit: Tech in Asia.

In its first earnings report since a bumper IPO that saw it raise US$1.1 billion and top a valuation of US$9 billion, mobile messaging app Line is flatlining.

Line now has 220 million monthly active users, which is exactly the same as in the previous quarter.

The figure is barely up from the 212 million it had exactly a year ago.

Facebook Messenger and (Facebook-owned) WhatsApp, meanwhile, have soared from 900 million to beyond a billion active users in the same time period, signaling that Mark Zuckerberg’s tandem chat apps have rebel social networks in check.

In a jam

The bad news for Line doesn’t stop there. The app is now more dependent on its four main markets – Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia – than ever before. That quartet now accounts for 74 percent of Line’s active users, up from 65 percent this time last year. Line’s big push to win over India in 2014 with TV ads and celebrity endorsements clearly didn’t work. India remains a Facebook nation.

And just forget about China.

Line CEO Takeshi Idezawa (left) at our TIA Singapore conference earlier this year.

Line’s stasis raises the specter of it losing users by the time of its next earnings report in January.

Diversity

Parent company Line Corp, the Japan-based spin-off of Korean web giant Naver, is already expanding its mobile empire on the back of the Line name with things like a news app and streaming music. If these can grow and attract new users even while the core social network itself fades away, the newly-IPO’d company can maintain traction and revenues.

Indeed, Line’s Q3 2016 earnings report reveals that it pulled in a record high revenue of US$345 million – up 12.5 percent from the year prior. Ads – across the whole Line empire of apps – account for 40 percent of all that.

Line’s iconic characters feature heavily in the messaging app. Like Hello Kitty, they’ve become a big merchandising opportunity, from virtual stickers to plush toys. Pictured is Line’s office in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

A big problem with that revenue: 71 percent of it comes from Japan, which is not growing as fast as the ratio of users in Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Chat app stickers continued to decline in terms of revenue despite more of them than ever being sent by users – an average of 384 million per day.

Line also saw falling revenue for content such as mobile gaming, streaming music, and its manga app.

Converted from Japanese yen. Rate: US$1 = JPY 104.2.

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