Chat Application Line Surpasses 30 Million Users in Japan

The popular Japanese chat application/platform Line has just surpassed the 30 million user mark in Japan. The company has been releasing news about new user milestones all summer it seems, but the folks over at Netafull.net have a good overview of the figures since May, for both users in Japan and total global users. I’ve plotted those figures on a chart below, to give you an idea of Line’s trajectory.

Earlier this month, Line hit the 60 million total users mark. But perhaps more importantly, the company also announced that it had made over 300 million yen (or $3.8 million) from its sticker shop in the month of August.

[Download image version of this chart]

While I’m a little skeptical about all the things that Line is trying to do at once, its growing user base in Japan is particularly encouraging, as this is a market that is willing to spend money on mobile more than other nations.

Sooner or later though, I think Line will face a saturation point in Japan. So it’s good to see that NHN Japan is preparing for that eventuality by chasing users in other markets.

When I last spoke to NHN representatives, they noted that China is one market that they hope to explore. Although given the current political tensions between the China and Japan, I don’t expect to see that venture any time soon.