Line Corporation ( Line 株式会社 , Rain Kabushiki gaisha ) was a Japanese Internet company. It was a subsidiary of Z Holdings , a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation . It was established in 2000 as the Japanese subsidiary of South Korean NHN Corporation 's online game community site Hangame , under the name Hangame Japan . In 2003, it was renamed NHN Japan and in 2013, it was rebranded as Line Corporation.
51-411: The company operates various internet services, including the communication app Line , as well as Line Music , and Line Manga , and Line Pay. In 2019, during the merger with Yahoo, Line Corporation (the original entity) was reorganized into a holding company and established as Line Split Preparation Corporation, and in 2021, it changed its company name to Line Corporation (2nd generation) by taking over
102-735: A Shanghai -based affiliate that Line subcontracted to develop AI accessed the messages stored in the Japanese computer system and personal information of Line users, such as: name, phone number, email address and Line ID. Photos and video footage posted by Japanese users were also stored on a server in South Korea. Line stated in March 2021 that it had since blocked access to user data at the Chinese affiliate and that it would revise its privacy policy and make it more explicit. Line had been used by
153-433: A SoftBank Group subsidiary. Under the new structure, Naver Corporation (Line's former parent company) and SoftBank Corp. (the wireless carrier unit of SoftBank Group) each hold 50 percent stakes in a new company named A Holdings Corp., which holds a majority stake in Z Holdings, which will operate Line and Yahoo Japan. Upon integrating the two businesses and creating further platforms, the merged company aims to compete with
204-489: A super-app providing services including a digital wallet (Line Pay), news stream (Line Today), video on demand ( Line TV ) and digital comic distribution ( Line Manga and Line Webtoon ). Line became Japan's largest social network in 2013 and is used by over 70% of the population as of 2023; it is also popular mainly in Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand. Naver had launched a messaging app called Naver Talk for
255-521: A Line application account can install and play the games. Players can connect with friends, send and accept items and earn friend points. The game range includes: puzzles, match-three, side-scroller, musical performance, simulation, battle and spot-the-difference games. In September 2013, Line Corporation announced its games had been downloaded 200 million times worldwide. On July 10, 2017, Line Games acquired NextFloor Corporation, developers of Dragon Flight and Destiny Child. On January 5, 2017, Line Games
306-616: A Line-like experience with the possibility to add stickers. In September 2015 a new Android launcher was released on the Google Play Store, helping the company to promote its own services through the new user interface. Line includes a feature known as "official channels" which allows companies, especially news media outlets, publications and other mass media companies to offer an official channel which users can join and thereby receive regular updates, published articles or news updates from companies or news outlets. Line features
357-499: A Sticker Shop where users are able to purchase virtual stickers depicting original and well-known characters. The stickers are used during chat sessions between users and act as large emoji . Users can purchase stickers as gifts, with many stickers available as free downloads, depending on country availability. Purchased stickers are attached to an account and can be used on other platforms. New sticker sets are released weekly. Line's message stickers feature original characters as well as
408-517: A call center to connect consumers to courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services, it launched its mobile app in 2015 with four services: GoRide, GoSend, GoShop, and GoFood, which has since expanded to offer over 20 services. In 2021, it merged with another Indonesian unicorn, Tokopedia , forming the decacorn GoTo Gojek Tokopedia. Grab is a Southeast Asian technology company headquartered in Singapore and Indonesia . Founded in 2012 as
459-425: A community of contacts in real-time, similar to the status updates in social networking services such as Facebook. On April 1, 2013, Naver's Japanese branch name was changed from NHN Japan to Line Corporation . Because it was tailored to Japanese consumers' tastes and offered free smartphone calls as well as texting, with the help of a massive marketing campaign it quickly outpaced its existing rival KakaoTalk for
510-524: A far superior cultural knowledge of what Japanese users wanted, and a much larger corporate marketing budget, Line quickly surpassed KakaoTalk in Japan. Line also offers free voice calls and, since Japan's telecoms make customers pay for both SMSs and smartphone calls, this feature, which KakaoTalk did not have, was a major selling point. Line experienced an unexpected server overload in October 2011 due to
561-508: A feature, called a Snap movie, that users can use to record a stop-motion video and add in provided background music. In January 2015, Line Taxi was released in Tokyo as a competitor to Uber . Line launched a new android app called "Popcorn buzz" in June 2015. The app facilitates group calls with up to 200 members. In June a new Emoji keyboard was also released for IOS devices, which provides
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#1732797532710612-441: A group by creating and joining groups that have up to 500 people. Chats also provide bulletin boards on which users can post, like and comment. This application also has timeline and homepage features that allow users to post pictures, text and stickers on their homepages. Users can also change their Line theme to the theme Line provides in the theme shop for free or users can buy other famous cartoon characters they like. Line also has
663-1139: A list of banned words that cannot be sent or received through Line. Line publicly confirmed the practice in December 2013. However, by 2014, access to Line chat servers has been entirely blocked by the Great Firewall , while the company still makes revenue in China from brick-and-mortar stores. Super-app A super-app , also known as an everything-app , is a mobile or web application that can provide multiple services including payment and instant messaging services, effectively becoming an all-encompassing self-contained commerce and communication online platform that embraces many aspects of personal and commercial life. Notable examples of super-apps include Tencent 's WeChat in China , Tata Neu in India , and Grab in Southeast Asia . For end users,
714-748: A merger with Line Corporation . Under the new structure, A Holdings, a subsidiary of SoftBank Corporation and Naver Corporation , will own 65.3% of Z Holdings, which will operate Line and Yahoo! Japan. By 18 January 2013, Line had been downloaded 100 million times worldwide. The number expanded to 140 million by early July 2013 and to 200 million by July 21. As of June 2016, Japan claimed 68 million users while Thailand had 33 million. As of February 2014, Indonesia had 20 million users, Taiwan 17 million, while India and Spain had 16 million each. In April 2014, Naver announced that Line had reached 400 million worldwide users and by 2017 this had grown to 700 million. As of 2021 Line had 92 million users in Japan, and
765-523: A month. Line also relocated image and other data stored in South Korea to Japan. As of November 2021, the Tokyo metropolitan government offers proof of COVID-19 vaccinations through the Line app, with expansion planned for other prefectures. On 12 April 2021, Line suffered a large-scale crash in Taiwan. More than 70,000 Line Pay users in Taiwan have been affected by a leak of transaction information during
816-434: A number of popular manga , anime and gaming characters, movie tie-ins and characters from Disney properties such as Pixar . Some sticker sets, such as those that celebrate special events like the 2012 Summer Olympics, are released for only a limited time. Other sticker sets that support charity are known as Charity Stickers. For example, in 2016, Line released "Support Kumamoto" Charity Stickers to provide aid to victims of
867-409: A super-app is an application that provides a set of core features while also giving access to independently developed miniapps. For app developers, a superapp is an application integrated with the capabilities of platforms and ecosystems that allows third-parties to develop and publish miniapps. The super-app term was first used to describe WeChat, which was coined the first super-app when it combined
918-402: A total of 178 million across its four largest markets: Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand. A survey done in 2023 showed that, for the first time, more Japanese seniors preferred to use Line over email for communicating. Line is an application that works on multiple platforms and has access via multiple personal computer operating systems. Users can also share photos, videos and music, send
969-417: Is currently developing a super app named Tata Neu . Major Indian companies like Paytm , PhonePe , and ITC Maars also have apps in development that might constitute super-apps. In Southeast Asia, Grab and Gojek lay claim to the super-app classification despite lacking many of the features offered by WeChat. Accordingly, growth-stage companies like Shopee , Traveloka , and AirAsia have also expanded
1020-592: Is offered worldwide through the Line app. Line Taxi was launched in January 2015 in partnership with Nihon Kotsu, a local taxi service in Japan. Just like Line Pay, Line Taxi is not offered as a separate app but rather through the Line app where users can request a taxi and automatically pay for it when they connect their account to Line Pay. Announced alongside Line Pay and Line Taxi, a service that allows users to instantly access delivery services for registered food or products and services. A news hub integrated in
1071-489: Is the country's first super-app. The app was launched to coincide with the start of a 2022 Indian Premier League cricket match. WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose instant messaging , social media and mobile payment app. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users . WeChat provides text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, video conferencing, video games,
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#17327975327101122-631: The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes . All proceeds earned from the sales of these stickers were to be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society to provide financial support and aid for the victims. The original default characters and stickers, known as Line Friends , were created by Kang Byeongmok, also known as "Mogi", in 2011. There are over 1 billion stickers sent by worldwide users on a daily basis. The popular characters Milk & Mocha began as stickers on Line in Indonesia. NHN Japan created Line Games in 2011. Only those with
1173-980: The Chrome Web Store ). The application also exists in versions for laptop and desktop computers using the Microsoft Windows and macOS platforms. In July 2016, Line Corporation held IPOs on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange . In late December 2020, Line Corporation delisted from both the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, in advance of its absorption-type merger agreement with Z Holdings. On March 1, 2021, SoftBank Group affiliate and Yahoo! Japan operator Z Holdings completed
1224-596: The ECDH protocol for client-to-client encryption. In August 2016, Line expanded its end-to-end encryption to also encompass its group chats, voice calls and video calls. In March 2021, the Japanese government announced that it would investigate Line after reports that it let Chinese system-maintenance engineers in Shanghai access Japanese users' data without informing them, beginning in August 2018. Four Chinese engineers in
1275-580: The MyTeksi app in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, it expanded the following year as GrabTaxi , before moving its headquarters to Singapore in 2014 and rebranding officially as Grab. In addition to ride-hailing and transportation services, the company's mobile app also offers food delivery and digital payment services. Tata Neu is a multi-purpose super-app, developed in India by the Tata Group . It
1326-424: The 600 million users mark had been passed and 700 million were expected by the end of the year. Line was originally developed as a mobile application for Android and IOS smartphones. The service has since expanded to: BlackBerry OS (August 2012), Nokia Asha (Asia and Oceania, March 2013), Windows Phone (July 2013), Firefox OS (February 2014), iPadOS (October 2014) and as a Google Chrome App (via
1377-417: The Japanese government and local governments to notify residents about developments in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. In response to the reports of security issues, the national government and many local governments halted their usage of Line in late March 2021. In April 2021 the government ordered Line to take measures to properly protect customers' information and to report improvement measures within
1428-536: The Japanese market. It reached 100 million users within 18 months and 200 million users six months later. Line gradually replaced carrier -based email as the most popular method of communication in Japan. Line became Japan's largest social network by the end of 2013, with more than 300 million registrants worldwide, of which more than 50 million users were within Japan. In October 2014, Line announced that it had attracted 560 million users worldwide with 170 million active user accounts. In February 2015, it announced
1479-576: The Line app. A referral program for online shopping. Customers get extra discount or earn Line Points by purchasing through the Line Shopping service. A gift sending services on Line. Customers can send gift via Line. A matching platform for finding doctors online. In 2015, a lower-overhead Android app was released for emerging markets called Line Lite. This supports messages and calls but not themes or timeline. It became available worldwide in August 2015. In January 2022 Line announced
1530-461: The Naver search engine in Japan before its demise. Naver Japan acquired Livedoor in 2010. In 2012, Naver merged the three entities (NHN Japan, Naver Japan, Livedoor) into a new subsidiary known as NHN Japan . On April 1, 2013, the company changed its name and traded as Line Corporation . Later that same year, NHN split into two companies, Naver Corporation and NHN Entertainment Corporation and
1581-663: The South Korean market in February 2011. However, rival Korean company Kakao dominated the market with its KakaoTalk app, launched in March 2010 Naver/NHN co-founder and chairman Lee Hae-Jin and a team of engineers were in Japan when the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck in March 2011. The earthquake and tsunami left millions without power and phone lines and SMS networks were overwhelmed. Since Wi-Fi and some 3G remained largely usable, many people turned to KakaoTalk, which
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1632-571: The U.S. tech giants Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple and the Chinese tech giants Baidu , Alibaba , and Tencent , as well as the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten . The merger also gives Z Holdings three additional Asian markets where Line is popular: Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. In April 2021, Line Corporation launched Line Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei , Taiwan . In February 2023, Z Holdings announced its intention to merge its subsidiaries, Line and Yahoo Japan. In April, it
1683-417: The app's popularity. To improve scalability to accommodate its user growth, NHN Japan chose HBase as the primary storage for user profiles, contacts and groups. In December 2011, Naver announced that Naver Talk would be merged into Line, effective early 2012. In July 2012, NHN Japan announced the new Line features Home and Timeline . The features allowed users to share recent personal developments to
1734-560: The breach. In March 2024, the Japanese government ordered Line and Naver to separate their systems because of the data leak. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued administrative guidance to LY Corporation twice on April 16 2024.LY Corporation is required to submit another report by The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications before July 1, 2024. Line suppressed content in China to conform with government censorship . Analysis by Citizen Lab showed that accounts registered with Chinese phone numbers download
1785-544: The business from the original entity. At this time, the original entity changed its name to A Holdings Corporation. On February 2, 2023, it was announced that Z Holdings and Yahoo would merge during the fiscal year 2023. On October 1 of the same year, Yahoo, Z Entertainment, and Z Data merged into Z Holdings and changed their name to "Line Yahoo Corporation." Line Corporation transferred its assets, rights, and businesses to Line Yahoo Corporation through absorption-type split except for certain overseas stocks, and changed its name to
1836-441: The current one. It is expected to become a holding company managing overseas subsidiaries' stocks and other assets through business reorganization. Line Corporation was founded on September 4, 2000, as Hangame Japan as a part of Hangame , a South Korean game company owned by NHN at the time. In August 2003, the company was renamed to NHN Japan . In 2007 Naver established another Japanese subsidiary Naver Japan , which managed
1887-415: The current or any specific: locations, voice audios, emojis, stickers and emoticons to friends. Users can see a real-time confirmation when messages are sent and received or use a hidden chat feature, which can hide and delete a chat history (from both involved devices and Line servers) after a time set by the user. The application also makes free voice and video calls. Users can also chat and share media in
1938-401: The discontinuation of Line Lite, taking effect on the 28th February 2022. Line accounts can be accessed on only one mobile device (running the app version) or one personal computer (running the version for these). Additional mobile devices can install the app but require different mobile numbers or e-mail addresses for the Line account. If "Line Lite" for Android was installed and activated,
1989-448: The instant messaging service with the digital wallet function. Recognition of WeChat as a super-app stems from its combination of messaging, payments, e-commerce, and much more within a single application, making it indispensable for many users. WeChat's establishment of the super-app model has led companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) to try to build similar applications outside of China. In India, Tata Group has announced that it
2040-451: The latter created a new NHN Japan Corporation subsidiary. In July 2016, Line Corporation held IPOs on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange . In late December 2020, Line delisted from both the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, in advance of its absorption-type merger agreement with Z Holdings. In March 2021 Line Corporation merged with Yahoo Japan , which has been operated by Z Holdings ,
2091-427: The lines of Nql7f_65 and IQvAj_65. In August 2013, it was possible to intercept a Line chat session at the network level using packet capture software and to reconstruct it on a PC. Messages were sent in cleartext to Line's server when on cellular data but encrypted when using Wi-Fi most of the time. Until February 2016, it was also possible to "clone" an iPhone from a backup and then use the "cloned" iPhone to access
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2142-479: The peaking of smartphone penetration rates in many regions worldwide, which have led to overcrowded app stores and tighter restrictions on targeted advertising as regulators assert more control over the companies. From a technical viewpoint, single-purpose apps are comparatively faster, more responsive and easier to navigate than super-apps, which help improve the overall user experience. Super-apps are also likelier to store larger amounts of personal data to facilitate
2193-471: The period from December 26, 2020, to April 2, 2021. In October 2023, the company confirmed a data breach where over 440,000 items of personal data were leaked. This included user age groups, genders, and partial service usage history, along with business partner and employee information like email addresses and names. The leak was traced back to unauthorized access through a Naver subcontractor's computer, which shared an authentication system with Line, allowing
2244-648: The range of services offered by their respective applications. Alipay is a third-party mobile and online payment platform established in Hangzhou , China in February 2004 by Alibaba Group and its founder Jack Ma . It operates in association with Ant Group , an affiliate company of the Chinese Alibaba Group . Gojek is an Indonesian on-demand multi-service digital platform and fintech payment super-app. Established in Jakarta in 2010, as
2295-586: The same Line account as used by the original iPhone. This loophole was widely rumored (but never proven) to have been used to intercept Line messages between the popular Japanese television personality Becky and her married romantic partner Enon Kawatani ; the intercepted messages were published in the magazine Shukan Bunshun and led to the temporary suspension of Becky's television career. In July 2016, Line Corporation turned on end-to-end encryption by default for all Line users. It had earlier been available as an opt-in feature since October 2015. The app uses
2346-692: The sharing of photographs and videos and location sharing. Although apps that fit the super-app classification can offer users a wider variety of services in comparison to single-purpose alternatives, internet regulators in regions such as the US and Europe have become more concerned about the overall power of the technology industry and have become more critical of companies developing such apps. In China, WeChat and other local firms have been ordered to open up their platforms to rivals by local regulators. There are also reports that suggest it might be difficult to replicate WeChat's super-app model. This stems partly from
2397-503: The user was told they will be "logged out of the normal Line". This message did not make clear that it was impossible to log back in to the normal Line, which would delete all history data when next launched. Line Lite has now been discontinued. On 7th November 2024, Line earlier than version 12 ceased working, refusing to even start up to allow the user to access their data, with later versions refusing to work on existing hardware/operating systems, just generating random error messages along
2448-707: Was also announced for PC. Games to be released on mobile and PC include: Project NL (by MeerKat Games) and Uncharted Waters Origins (by Line Games and Koei Tecmo ). On 10 Jul 2019, Nintendo released Dr. Mario World co-developed by Line Games. On July 18, 2019, First Summoner developed by SkeinGlobe was released. Line introduced Line Pay worldwide on December 16, 2014. The service allows users to request and send money from users in their contact list and make mobile payments in store. The service has since expanded to allow other features such as offline wire transfers when making purchases and ATM transactions like depositing and withdrawing money. Unlike other Line services, Line Pay
2499-436: Was announced as the publisher for Hundred Soul (formerly known as Project 100) by Hound 13. On December 12, 2018, Line Games held a media event called LPG (Line Games-Play-Game) to introduce its games for 2019. Mobile games announced include: Exos Heroes (by OOZOO), Ravenix: The Card Master (also by OOZOO), Dark Summoners (by SkeinGlobe), Project PK (by Rock Square) and Super String (by Factorial Games). Project NM by Space Dive
2550-518: Was announced that the merger would be implemented on October 1, along with a simultaneous name change to LY Corporation . Line (software) 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 . Initially designed for text messaging and VoIP voice and video calling, it has gradually expanded to become
2601-425: Was just beginning to gain a foothold in Japan. Lee was inspired to launch a messaging and chat app in the wake of the disaster and his NHN Japan team was testing a beta version of an app accessible on smartphones, tablet and PC, which would work on data network and provide continuous and free instant messaging and calling service, within two months. The app was launched as Line in June 2011. Because Naver/NHN had
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