Line aims for 20 million users in Taiwan by year-end, nearly the country’s whole population

Mobile messaging app Line is aiming for 20 million users in Taiwan by the end of this year, doubling its user base from the start of this year to nearly the country’s whole population.

According to a Focus Taiwan report citing Kang Hyun-bin, the head of Line Plus Corp.’s business office in Japan, Taiwan is one of the company’s “top-tier markets”. As of 2012, the country’s population is estimated at 23.31 million – according to Google – which points to Line’s already-significant market penetration and its ambitious plan to saturate the market.

Last week, Line opened a new office in Taiwan and kicked off a fresh recruitment drive in the region, seeking to hire 30 additional employees to work from the new branch.

To achieve its target of 20 million users, Kang says in the report that Line will continue to be a free messaging app. It will also continue collaborating with Taiwanese companies to organize more promotional campaigns, come up with news feeds and create more digital learning content.

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We earlier reported on a leaked presentation that Line made to clients in Taiwan, which showed that Line has been working on promoting a product known as official accounts – which companies can use to connect with online users. The chat app charges thousands of dollars for each company to have its account to interact with its fans, and tens of thousands for the company to produce its own stickers.

The Focus Taiwan report adds that Kang says Line currently has nearly 200 million users globally, and forecasts that the figure will hit 300 million this year.

Line was in February spun off from parent company NHN Japan—the Japanese arm of Korean search giant Naver. It posted revenue of 5.82 billion yen ($58 million) in the first quarter of 2013 – showcasing a whopping 92 percent increase in income on the fourth quarter of 2012.

Headline image via hushenpaul.pixnet