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
#2Overall solid article but strangely light on details.
>Gaming was 40 percent of Line’s revenue in 2015, its largest single line item for income.
>Gaming can be high-grossing but it is also subject to fads and trends. Line’s games have performed well but, as we have seen in the past, just one title underperforming can drag the company’s revenue down.
>“Historically, we have depended on a small number of games for a majority of our mobile game revenues, and we expect that this dependence will continue for the foreseeable future,” Line admitted in a filing.
For example, their gaming revenue is dominated by "Tsum Tsum", a falling puzzle style game that uses Disney IP and the Line platform. It's been a top 5 game in Japan for a few years now. The fact that the article doesn't call this out specifically is surprising.
Also, their sticker revenue is now about 20% of their revenues iirc (according to an article I recall reading last year), which I don't think was called out in the article. At one point this was 80%+ of their revenues.
They seem to have achieved diversification of revenue sources, but core user growth is the main risk.
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#3Overall solid article but strangely light on details. >Gaming was 40 percent of Line’s revenue in 2015, its largest single line item for income. >Gaming can be high-grossing but it is also subject to fads and trends. Line’s games have performed well but, as we have seen in the past, just one title underperforming can drag the company’s revenue down. >“Historically, we have depended on a small number of games for a ma…
But is the type of gaming that would be associated with line a fad in totality? And are stickers just a fad as well? Will people be buying them 10 years from now?
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#4This stuff is a fad, like the housing bubble and the .com boom. People who don't really understand technology or the internet or how people use both think they smell gold and they take us on these ridiculous roller coaster rides about "The next big killer app" or whatever. Then that app is dead in 5 years.
I guess if all one is interested in is making money, then good for them, kudos. But in the grander sense.. "the internet shrugged."
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#5Overall solid article but strangely light on details. >Gaming was 40 percent of Line’s revenue in 2015, its largest single line item for income. >Gaming can be high-grossing but it is also subject to fads and trends. Line’s games have performed well but, as we have seen in the past, just one title underperforming can drag the company’s revenue down. >“Historically, we have depended on a small number of games for a ma…
But is the type of gaming that would be associated with line a fad in totality? And are stickers just a fad as well? Will people be buying them 10 years from now?
I actually think stickers fill a real need of
1) "I am not exactly sure how I can respond best to my friend's message in words, but I can be vague and generally pleasant by using this cute/funny with this sticker"
2) I am too lazy / don't care enough to craft a thoughtful and appropriate message.
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#6This stuff is a fad, like the housing bubble and the .com boom. People who don't really understand technology or the internet or how people use both think they smell gold and they take us on these ridiculous roller coaster rides about "The next big killer app" or whatever. Then that app is dead in 5 years. I guess if all one is interested in is making money, then good for them, kudos. But in the grander sense.. "the…
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 English speaking friends.
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#7This stuff is a fad, like the housing bubble and the .com boom. People who don't really understand technology or the internet or how people use both think they smell gold and they take us on these ridiculous roller coaster rides about "The next big killer app" or whatever. Then that app is dead in 5 years. I guess if all one is interested in is making money, then good for them, kudos. But in the grander sense.. "the…
I'm not sure that's the case for Line. I've used Line only sparingly, but I live in South Korea, which has KakaoTalk, the chat app usually described as being to Korea what Line is to Japan (or vice-versa, since Line was patterned after Kakao). Their UX is very similar.
KakaoTalk is huge. It's hard to separate from being Korean. Everybody has it by default. It's the standard way to communicate. It's used for notifications. The merchandising is everywhere, from its own retail stores to branded products on every corner. The characters are beloved. A new sticker pack is a highlight of the day. Using stickers well is a significant element of social eloquence. There's no laptop screen without it; if people are seen typing into a phone it's probably what they are typing into. KakaoTalk is so fundamental to Korean daily life, it's more like ... the water supply. It's a fact of being here and not there. It's culture.
Will KakaoTalk perish one day? Maybe. The open standards and anti-surveillance ideologist in me adds "hopefully". But if it does it will nonetheless have provided the substrate for an entire generation, a vast moment in time. Innovators may shrug, technologists may shrug - but if the whole thing we do is about building civilization and facilitating culture, as I believe it is, KakaoTalk is factually that in action. Some fad that is.
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#8This stuff is a fad, like the housing bubble and the .com boom. People who don't really understand technology or the internet or how people use both think they smell gold and they take us on these ridiculous roller coaster rides about "The next big killer app" or whatever. Then that app is dead in 5 years. I guess if all one is interested in is making money, then good for them, kudos. But in the grander sense.. "the…
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.
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#9I hope that WhatsApp will resist adding all these stickers and games and find it's way to monetize (bring back paid subscription?).
Re: Understanding Line, the chat app behind 2016’s largest tech IPO
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
But is the type of gaming that would be associated with line a fad in totality? And are stickers just a fad as well? Will people be buying them 10 years from now?
I actually think stickers fill a real need of 1) "I am not exactly sure how I can respond best to my friend's message in words, but I can be vague and generally pleasant by using this cute/funny with this sticker" 2) I am too lazy / don't care enough to craft a thoughtful and appropriate message.
You forgot the 3rd case, the stickers can express more than just words and really shape the overall feeling of the conversation. Its a completely different style of conversation when talking to American friends over LINE that treat it like Facebook vs talking to a Japanese friend that is adding in stickers in between the text to add an entire different dynamic to the conversation. People use stickers differently which also helps show their different personalities.