TOKYO ― LINE Corp. on Wednesday said it is out for a larger share of the global mobile messenger market by offering new services that include free video calls.

“LINE will not only serve as a communication channel but also play a role as a common language in the world,” said Akira Morikawa, chief executive officer of LINE, an affiliate of NHN, at the “Hello, Friends in Tokyo 2013” conference held in Tokyo this week.

LINE currently offers free text messaging, voice calls and group chats both locally and internationally. It is also known for peppering its messages with fun emoticons or “stickers.”

A survey showed 40 percent of couples using the mobile service said communication with their partner has increased and 30 percent said the relationship has also improved with the help of the LINE services, according to Akira.

LINE boasts more than 230 million users, having grown rapidly in just over two years since its release.

By country, Japan has the most LINE users at more than 47 million, 20 percent of all users, followed by Thailand at around 18 million, Taiwan at 17 million and Spain at 15 million. Around 7 billion messages have been sent through LINE, according to the company.

“In the smartphone era, communication plays a leading role, and LINE is a new gateway for smartphone life,” Takeshi Idezawa, director of the mobile service firm, said at the conference attended by 1,200 partners and reporters.

The director said it would launch global services such as free video calls and various mobile games.

The mobile messenger firm is planning to open a Web store in September to enable users in Southeast Asian nations to pay with different methods such as PayPal, prepaid cards and electronic transfers when buying stickers and game items, as credit cards are not widely used in the region.

Mobile shopping service LINE Mall and music service LINE Music ― both of which will be serviced only in Japan ― is also slated to open by the end of this year,

“Anyone can become a seller or shopper anytime anywhere through the commerce service,” said Jun Masuda, executive and chief strategy and marketing officer of the firm.

“We will try to enrich users’ experience and work hard to enhance user convenience.”

Aiming to attract a total of 300 million users this year, the mobile service provider has signed up with Spanish football club FC Barcelona for its Official Accounts service and has made stickers for the club’s star players.

LINE and its diverse features promote three major characteristics: social/interactive, fun/entertaining and easy/convenient. In particular, LINE provides fun stickers that allow users to express their emotions more freely and vividly with its various characters and their distinctive personalities.

The Home and Timeline service offers personal spaces where users can share their life stories by posting pictures, videos and location information, whereas Official Accounts enables real-time communication with celebrities, public figures and corporate brands.

LINE is available for almost all smartphones as well as PCs.

The company has become hot cultural icon among the world’s youth for always being one step ahead of its users’ needs by advancing the communication experience through integrating various features of daily life activities into one platform.

LINE offers more than 10,000 different stickers featuring over 250 unique characters, each with individual expressions and gestures.

McDonald’s and Softbank, two major clients of LINE in Japan, gave some advice for improvements needed for the mobile application as a business tool.

Officials from the fast-food company and mobile carrier said they have been using the mobile application as a marketing tool to appeal to young generations by selling stickers and providing special coupons.

“LINE might seem to lose its distinct advantage as a marketing tool over banner ads,” said Emiko Kimura, senior director of McDonald’s Holdings Company Japan, adding, “More ways to penetrate users’ minds and meet their needs should be prepared.”

The mobile messenger is available in 16 languages including Japanese, English, Indonesian, Malay and Turkish.

LINE Corp. raked in 9.77 billion yen ($100.14 million) in earnings during the second quarter, up 66.9 percent on-quarter.

By Kim Young-won, Korea Herald correspondent
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)