LINE at 3: LINE, family apps top 1-B downloads

MANILA, Philippines - LINE, the world’s leading mobile platform, marked its third anniversary last June 23. It has even more reasons to celebrate as the total number of worldwide downloads for LINE and LINE family apps topped one billion on June 21.

LINE has been a worldwide phenomenon in the last three years, and its growing user base in the Philippines has helped foster this growth. With this momentum, Filipinos can expect more quirky and colorful features to be released by LINE.

“The development of new and exciting stickers and apps is our way of extending our gratitude to the Filipino LINE community,” said Greg Kim, head of LINE Philippines.

“The Philippines continues to present great prospects in terms of growth, as it has an increasing number of smartphone users. And considering LINE’s cross compatibility across multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, as well as PC, its market in the country is expected to be even bigger,” Kim added.

Since its beginning as a free mobile messenger app, launched on June 23, 2011, LINE has been continuously evolving its features by adding free calls and stickers in October of the same year.

With further addition of video calls and “LINE Premium Call,” a feature that allows users to make domestic and international phone calls to landlines and mobile phones at affordable rates, LINE demonstrates its ceaseless commitment to providing the best communication experience for all users.

As LINE celebrated its third anniversary, the service has grown to over 470 million users worldwide.

LINE continues to develop new channels to strengthen relationships among Filipinos and their families.

“There are over 10 million Filipinos residing abroad,” Kim said. “And most of them want to stay connected to their families here in the Philippines, and LINE gives them a reliable platform for communication.”

LINE recently added the “LINE Premium Call” app, a helpful service that allows domestic and international calls to landline and mobile phones at reasonable rates. Kim said, “This feature is definitely a breakthrough for us.”

He added: “The new LINE Premium Call app is ideal for families with loved ones abroad. With our commitment to deliver improved communication experiences to all our users, we aim to introduce more features that make Filipinos feel like their friends and families right next to them.”

With 470 million users worldwide, LINE has asserted itself as a leading mobile ecosystem that provides a wide array of content for users.

The online messaging platform currently offers a wide range of add-on services, including LINE Camera, LINE Play, and LINE Game.

In addition to the LINE app, 14 family apps have achieved over 10 million downloads, with LINE camera boasting the highest number with 90 million downloads.

The apps offered through the gaming service LINE GAME are also popular among users around the world, with LINE POP recording over 43 million downloads, and a total of nine titles breaking the 10 million milestone.

“We will continue to provide fresh and vibrant features for our valued app users,” Kim said.