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Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

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Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#21

Post by niftich »

'Ecosystem' apps like this remind me of stuff like Neopets [1], where you spend time (and money) within a social gaming portal. Of course, these gaming portals of old started with gaming and later expanded into chat and social, whereas LINE (and Facebook) went the other way.

They're also vaguely similar to MMOs like Runescape, MapleStory, Second Life. The point is, these services all hinge on user participation, user-to-user interaction, and virtual economies, which sets them apart from your run-of-the-mill chat app that just mines your external link clicks for ads, or shows some display ads.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopets

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#22

Post by antisthenes »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #19

Interesting times we live in. A "free" chat app is going to be valued at >$1bn and they make money selling digital stickers and perks for their Tetris clone, while publishing companies can't stay afloat with ads. Maybe publishers should sell stickers. Edit: 9 billion.

People don't care about the news or comprehensive journalism.

Bread and circuses.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#23

Post by samfisher83 »

kirkdouglas wrote: post #9

I hope that WhatsApp will resist adding all these stickers and games and find it's way to monetize (bring back paid subscription?).

if they charge $1 dollar a year and they have 1 billion users that is $1 billion a year in revenue. Suppose all 1 billion was profit and if you use cost of capital of 10%, you get a valuation of 10 billion.

FB paid 19 billion for it. If they charged for it people might just move to FB messanger or Viber or some free app.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#24

Post by AznHisoka »

antisthenes wrote: post #22
seanp2k2 wrote: post #19

Interesting times we live in. A "free" chat app is going to be valued at >$1bn and they make money selling digital stickers and perks for their Tetris clone, while publishing companies can't stay afloat with ads. Maybe publishers should sell stickers. Edit: 9 billion.

People don't care about the news or comprehensive journalism. Bread and circuses.

Yep, Humans are social animals and chatting is just as crucial as eating (in 1st world countries). Reading the news? We can do without it. One is addressing a need, the other isn't.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#26

Post by sotojuan »

egypturnash wrote: post #11
kirkdouglas wrote: post #9

I hope that WhatsApp will resist adding all these stickers and games and find it's way to monetize (bring back paid subscription?).

Stickers are great . Stickers let you quickly communicate a reply with two or three taps. They can also lighten things up; I giggle every time my boyfriend uses the "that's great but I am Trying To Work now" sticker I drew for him. What could read as curt and grumpy in text is instead expressed faster by a drawing that is a little bit inherently goofy. YMMV obviously, maybe you're just too serious to ever want to use…

Agreed. Stickers are harmless and a popular feature. That said, I find it strange how LINE suggests stickers/emoticons for almost every word possible.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#27

Post by mrtron »

brobinson wrote: post #8
Larrikin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Line is a fad like Facebook is a fad then. Pretty much every single person in Japan with a smartphone has the app and it is the standard way to communicate. I didn't need a phone plan when I lived there because I ended up making maybe 5 actual phone calls over the course of 3 years because LINE totally served my needs. The only people I met with a Facebook were people who liked traveling and were actively looking for…

Almost every person in Taiwan has LINE, too. Something like 75% of the country has an account.

And everyone who communicates with people in Taiwan.

Sticker sets are shockingly popular with the 40+ crowd.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#28

Post by MichaelGG »

egypturnash wrote: post #11
kirkdouglas wrote: post #9

I hope that WhatsApp will resist adding all these stickers and games and find it's way to monetize (bring back paid subscription?).

Stickers are great . Stickers let you quickly communicate a reply with two or three taps. They can also lighten things up; I giggle every time my boyfriend uses the "that's great but I am Trying To Work now" sticker I drew for him. What could read as curt and grumpy in text is instead expressed faster by a drawing that is a little bit inherently goofy. YMMV obviously, maybe you're just too serious to ever want to use…

>sticker I drew for him

That's pretty neat, but I haven't seen that; how do you do your own stickers? I don't think anyone would argue against being able to send free-form drawings. The stickers in Skype and Telegram, otoh, seem to be mostly "meme junk". Random clips of TV, or (IMO terrible) cartoony drawings.

My daughters use them sometimes, same with strings of emoji. But I find it expresses far less than words would do. It's like they're just hunting around for a cute image, with little thought beyond that.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#29

Post by notifier2050 »

samfisher83 wrote: post #23
kirkdouglas wrote: post #9

I hope that WhatsApp will resist adding all these stickers and games and find it's way to monetize (bring back paid subscription?).

if they charge $1 dollar a year and they have 1 billion users that is $1 billion a year in revenue. Suppose all 1 billion was profit and if you use cost of capital of 10%, you get a valuation of 10 billion. FB paid 19 billion for it. If they charged for it people might just move to FB messanger or Viber or some free app.

They cancelled subscription just this year when they already had billion users. That means people are willing to pay for it.

Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO

#30

Post by reacharavindh »

notifier2050 wrote: post #29
samfisher83 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if they charge $1 dollar a year and they have 1 billion users that is $1 billion a year in revenue. Suppose all 1 billion was profit and if you use cost of capital of 10%, you get a valuation of 10 billion. FB paid 19 billion for it. If they charged for it people might just move to FB messanger or Viber or some free app.

They cancelled subscription just this year when they already had billion users. That means people are willing to pay for it.

I don't remember paying even the $1 to them ever and I've been using WhatsApp for a good few years. Every time the expiration date approaches, it automatically gets pushed away. Either they were just giving away subscriptions intentionally or I'm just one lucky bastard.

So, No, they never had 1 billion dollar paying customers.

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