My friends and I are are huge users of line (we're in the US) and have been for a long time. When a large portion of our group of friends went to Japan it allowed us to message in a group without any extra charges and stickers (the digital kind) are REALLY REALLY fun.[1] I would say I've spent around 10-12 dollars (5-6 packs) on stickers in the last 6 months alone. I was actually more confused when I came across things like Group Me and WhatsApp because they're not as fun as Line imo (I later figured out that it wasn't really marketed in the US). The gimmicks for me to get new stickers are also insanely effective, e.g. downloading other Naver/Line apps/games and adding sponsored accounts (like Rafael Nadal) to get free stickers.
[1]They have stickers for basically everything, from Japanese animes to Disney Characters to Snoop Dog. They also do special occasion stickers, like Halloween etc. The original stickers were none of those though, just a few original characters they thought up. In fact my favorite sticker is one of their originals, "Brown": http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RNLBc7XVLm8/UVl9flhwIiI/AAAAAAAAAO...
I have a hard time understanding how WhatsApp could take any market from Line where they dominate, and this is not only because of the stickers, but mostly because the application itself offers an objectively superior experience.
Line feels like an universally available, polished, and wannabe cute version of iMessage, while WhatsApp feels like a clunky and poorly designed app that you're supposed to pay. Moreover, Line has a desktop client, which, even if not as well done as their mobile app, does not have the bloat of Skype.
Where I live, in Japan, people use Line so much that even without a Facebook account, I do not feel disconnected anymore. I know what is going to happen, and my friends have no overhead to reach me.
This said, I would totally understand if it can not reach the US or some European countries, where people would not be attracted by the very Asian cuteness that comes with it.
They have 49MM users in Japan alone, and Japanese users are famously loose with digital goods spending (their mobile gamers spend many times that of counterparts abroad).
But it's not recurring revenue. I can't imagine someone keep buying 10+ packs of stickers. Only stickers, no game credits?
There's something I fail to understand here.
People buy the new sticker packs so that they'll have stickers nobody else has. Other people will start getting these new sticker packs, and thus the "trendsetters" need new sticker packs in order to maintain their uniqueness. LINE is happy to keep releasing new stickers to feed this cycle.
Living in the Philippines where I watched Line take control I asked many Filipinos what they like the most and why
- More free stickers, larger variety (this is by far the #1 reason. The line stickers are fantastic and there's many different characters and expressions. You get at least 100 free and they release new free ones often)
- First to allow sending short videos
- Constant commercials running on major television
- They don't send as much notification spam as KakaoTalk or Viber
I'm curious, do they advertise in the US? In Asia (HK/Singapore at least), LINE have TV commercials and various promotional efforts with bricks and motor stores (e.g. soft toy versions of their stickers after $x of purchases at 7-Eleven).
I joined Line in the last month mainly because my girlfriend thought the stickers were really cute and as we started to use it more and more we have found it a very effective way to convey how we're feeling or for a quick check-in with a "sweet dreams" or a "hi!" sticker without having to type out a message.
I started creating new group chats with different sets of friend and find myself sharing photos and texts to selective groups instead of broadcasting them on Facebook and tagging those I want to notice it. I also feel like I have a choice on whose messages/stickers I want to see whereas on Facebook I'm constantly ingesting the entire feed.
Can someone figure out if they are selling more in digital stickers than traditional stickers.
If they sell $80 worth of stickers per year (If they keep up $20M per quarter in sticker revenue) I wonder what the output for all USA sticker sales would be.
my understanding is that they were in the right place at the right time to capture the tip from feature to smart phones in a country with an unusable SMS system and an unbelievable virtual goods market.
source: friends were in social / mobile games in Japan 2010-2011
WeChat from China has close to 400 million users, bigger than Line from Japan at over 200 million. These two dominates Asia, at distant third is KakaoTalk from Korea. WeChat is strongest in China, where Line is Japan/Taiwan. WhatsApp and even Facebook has to worry, as all my younger relatives are sharing status/photos in WeChat, abandoning Facebook.
I'm in Sydney but I'm seeing otherwise. Most if not all of my Chinese friends are using WeChat primarily. Sure they may have WhatsApp installed and use them sometime but if they talk to their Chinese friends it always WeChat.
[1]They have stickers for basically everything, from Japanese animes to Disney Characters to Snoop Dog. They also do special occasion stickers, like Halloween etc. The original stickers were none of those though, just a few original characters they thought up. In fact my favorite sticker is one of their originals, "Brown": http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RNLBc7XVLm8/UVl9flhwIiI/AAAAAAAAAO...