NHN Japan Corporation announced on July 26 that the number of registered users for its free calling and free messaging app 'LINE' (http://line.naver.jp/en) exceeded a total figure of 50 million worldwide as of July 25 (total for iPhone/Android/Windows Phones and Feature Phones combined). NHN Japan said there has been a substantial increase of users in Russia and its neighboring countries, and it is  now planning a full-scale advance into the North American and Chinese markets.

Graph to show registered user numbers

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As a smartphone app used in over 230 countries and regions worldwide, LINE allows its users to enjoy free calls and messages to one another, both nationally and internationally, regardless of which mobile network provider they are using.

In approximately a year since the service was launched on June 23, 2011, the number of registered users reached  a staggering 45 million with 20 million in Japan as of July 2, 2012. Since then, this number has been increasing at a robust pace of over 1 million users per week and on July 16, LINE reached the number 1 spot in the Free Apps category at App Stores in Ukraine, Cambodia and Kazakhstan, and also a day later in Russia, Belarus and Latvia. This increase of users in Russia and its surrounding areas, coupled with the number of users in the Middle East and Southeast Asian regions up until now, has resulted in a phenomenal increase from 45 million to more than 50 million users in a space of mere 3 weeks.

The sheer speed of LINE's growth can be seen clearly when compared with the time it has taken other SNS to reach this 50 million user mark. As the graph shows, Twitter has taken 1096 days and Facebook 1325 days, while LINE has taken just 399 days.

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(Source: http://www.googleplusmania.net/2011/09/google-plus-hit-50-million-users-todayin-less-than-3-months/)

NHN Japan hopes to reach the 100 million user mark during 2012 by advancing into the North American and Chinese markets, which will allow it to build a solid user base in those areas. NHN Japan has also explained that it will pursue this goal by continuing to increase the user friendliness of the service as well as to make the service available on a wide range of devices together with multi-lingual support.

In addition to this, NHN Japan has launched a new platform service for LINE, 'LINE Channel', after its announcement at the "Hello, Friends in Tokyo" conference held at Tokyo's Shibuya Hikarie Hall on July 3. Following on from the first of LINE's gaming apps, 'LINE Birzzle', which  received 5 million downloads within 3 weeks after its release on July 4, NHN Japan has proposed to engage with external partners to produce more content for LINE's existing user base. LINE Channel will aim to become a new economic zone for smartphones by offering games, fortune-telling, coupons services, etc.

About NHN Japan Corporation

NHN Japan is the local affiliate of Korea's premier Internet company, NHN Corporation. NHN Japan is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, with Akira Morikawa as CEO.