New users for mobile messenger application Line in South Korea have surpassed that of KakaoTalk for the third straight week this month, another implication that KakaoTalk's once-overwhelming dominance in the market is diminishing.
According to the report by the mobile data analysis firm IGA Works, the Line application was newly installed 61,640 times across the country between May 20 and May 26, edging out 56,771 new installations of KakaoTalk to lead all messenger service for messenger, phone calls and video calls here.
Line, jointly operated by South Korea's most-used search engine Naver and LY Corporation, has overtaken KakaoTalk in the new installations category in three out of four weeks since April 22. While widely used in several Asian countries such as Japan, it has rarely edged out KakaoTalk in the South Korean market in terms of user categories.
The recent surge of Line hardly implies that KakaoTalk is about to relinquish its place as the most-used messenger app among South Koreans. Line's monthly active users hover around 2 billion globally, but its local MAU of 2.38 million as of April is dwarfed by KakaoTalk's 43.95 million in the same month.
The recent dispute between South Korea and Japan over Line appears to have boosted locals' interest in the home-grown messenger service. The Japanese government recently suggested reorganizing the shares of the LY Corporation, citing security issues such as a massive leak of user information last year.
The two governments have been discussing the details of the ongoing controversy, with Seoul’s diplomats stating that there should be "no unfair discriminatory treatment of South Korean companies" in Japan.
In addition to South Koreans' renewed interest in Line, there have also been repeated service disruptions with KakaoTalk recently.
For instance, a disruption of the KakaoTalk services happened on May 13. While the error only lasted six minutes, the number of new installations of Line surpassed KakaoTalk that day, 12,497 to 8,731.
Line is a freeware app and service for instant messaging and social networking, operated by the Japanese company LY Corporation, co-owned by SoftBank Group. Line was launched in Japan in June 2011 by NHN Japan, a subsidiary of Naver.
has more new users than KakaoTalk for the 3rd straight week. New users for mobile messenger application Line in South Korea have surpassed that of KakaoTalk for the third straight week this month, another implication that KakaoTalk's once-overwhelming dominance in the market is diminishing.
In South Korea, for example, KakaoTalk is used by over 95% of mobile phone users (around 47 million). LINE, on the other hand, is more popular in Japan, where it has over 90 million users.
KakaoTalk played an important role as a data network-based communication method; it successfully replaced disabled wired and wireless networks and helped connect the disaster-stricken. KakaoTalk has targeted countries in Southeast Asia where no dominant mobile messenger service stands.
The recent surge of Line hardly implies that KakaoTalk is about to relinquish its place as the most-used messenger app among South Koreans. Line's monthly active users hover around 2 billion globally, but its local MAU of 2.38 million as of April is dwarfed by KakaoTalk's 43.95 million in the same month.
KakaoTalk automatically limits your account when suspicious activity is detected. During this time, you may still use most of the features of KakaoTalk, but certain features may not be available for use.
BTS V aka Kim Taehyung surprised fans on September 9, 2024, by joining a KakaoTalk group chat and sent messages amid 90,000 texts. He then signed off to go for a workout.
KakaoTalk is a messaging app similar to WhatsApp, which South Koreans primarily use to stay in touch with family and friends, and it is the preferred app by 58.3% of the surveyed population.
Hobby: Web surfing, Rafting, Dowsing, Stand-up comedy, Ghost hunting, Swimming, Amateur radio
Introduction: My name is Virgilio Hermann JD, I am a fine, gifted, beautiful, encouraging, kind, talented, zealous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
