Chatapp Line has a billion users

The chat app Line from the Korean company Naver has a billion users worldwide. This number has been reached in five years after the app’s release. This allows the service to compete with WhatsApp, which also had a billion users in February.

The chat app, which is available on many operating systems, experienced explosive growth after its introduction in Japan in 2011. For example, after a year and a half, there were 100 million users and then within six months the same number was added. The app was developed by the Japanese branch of Naver, in the meantime the development has been taken over by the company Line Corporation, which is a subsidiary of Naver. The original reason for the development of the software was a violent earthquake in Japan, which damaged the telecommunications infrastructure.

Line’s functionality is very similar to WhatsApp, with support for sending text messages, images, videos, and sound. The Korea Times further reports that the number of monthly active users worldwide was around 215 million in December. Line Corporation would also see its profits increase from the sale of music, live content, games and stickers, which can be purchased in the Line Store. According to the company itself, 2.4 billion such stickers are sent and received every day.

Line Corporation also plans to become a mobile virtual network operator, offering services over the network of other providers. The service also wants to offer a ‘smart portal’, which will give users online and offline access to companies, services and brands, among other things.