Line, the mobile messaging company from Japan, just announced it is making over $10 million (1 billion yen) per month selling stickers, the rich emoticon-like content. And it says the figure is rising each month.
Line’s free messaging service reached 200 million users in June, and is currently at 230 million. More than a messenger, the company defines an industry-wide shift from messaging apps into social platforms.
Its family of 52 apps — which includes games, tools, communication services and photo apps for iOS and Android — have been downloaded more than 290 million times — Line Camera alone has clocked 48 million downloads worldwide.
The company also makes money from other in-app purchases (particularly for games) and by charging for corporate messaging accounts. This month it announced record revenue of $132 million in revenue for Q2 2013 — a very different approach to WhatsApp‘s $0.99 per user per year business.
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➤ With 230M registered users, LINE reveals more about its future plans [Startup-Dating] | Line annual conference livestream
Further reading: Stickers: From Japanese craze to global mobile messaging phenomenon
Headline image via TNW
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