Messaging app Line says it is still considering IPO

What happened to the Japanese boycott after they found out the app is made by South Korean company?

What happened to the Japanese boycott after they found out the app is made by South Korean company?

Because such a boycot never existed in the first place.

The vast majority of Japanese users either don't care about such infantile nonsense, or they realize, as I do, that Line, was conceptualized by a Korean, Lee Hae Jin, and pitched to Japanese developers as a way to help people after the chaos in communications follwowing the Tohoku Quake.

In other words, it was born of human compassion, empathy, and a desire to help, not petty nationalism.

I'll say it again: There was never any even remotely popular movement in Japan to boycott the Line app. Never. It was a hit from the start and the fact that it's a darned good application cemented it in Japan as the No. 1 social media platform, far ahead of Mixi, Facebook, or Twitter.

I have no idea you would even suggest that there was talk of a boycott, much less present the idea in a way that suggests any sort of popular support for such an asinine concept, but you're either trolling or grossly misinformed.

Boycott notwithstanding it seems that every time I read about some horrible juvenile crime, LINE messaging was involved, and the media (including NHK) never fails to identify the application by name. There are also terms like "LINE sagi" (using LINE to commit fraud) that you don't see used with Japanese or other foreign SNS's. So let's just say that the vernacular media never fails to echo loudly any bad publicity regarding the company.

Before Line, they talked about people doing stuff by email, or by phone. Naming the tool doesn't mean they are vilifying it.

Is Line actually South Korean or Japanese? I think it's debatable. The parent company, Naver, is certainly a Korean company but I think all of the staff and development for Line is in Japan?

Line was developed in Japan by the Japanese based subsidiary company of Naver originally for the Japanese market. Currently, the Line Corporation based in Japan but whos parent company is Naver in Korea continues to develop LINE for the domestic Japanese market and the growing number of users worldwide.

To prove my earlier point, the Sep. 4 cover story title in Shukan Asahi magazine reads: Yonjuugosai otoko no sugao to shoujo no saigo no LINE. Here, LINE is the only word spelled out in roman letters. It means, the real face of the 45-year-old man (reference to Yamada, the suspected killer) and the last LINE message sent by the young girl.

Flagging LINE in this manner is akin to reporting about a fatal traffic accident and mentioning the manufacturer of the car. One doesn't see Yahoo! or Google mentioned by name in articles reporting crime.

One doesn't see Yahoo! or Google mentioned by name in articles reporting crime.

That's because Yahoo and Google are search engines. If they were tools for direct communication between individuals, they would also be named if it was the tool used. Same as they name phone lines when people make phone calls and email when people use email.

Flagging LINE in this manner is akin to reporting about a fatal traffic accident and mentioning the manufacturer of the car. One doesn't see Yahoo! or Google mentioned by name in articles reporting crime.

I see your point. They could have just said "messaging app" instead of naming the particular brand of software.

Line has been looking to expand in bigger markets, such as the U.S., but has not been able to make significant headway.

Because already people regularly have unlimited phone and unlimited messaging

Line has been looking to expand in bigger markets, such as the U.S., but has not been able to make significant headway.

I suspect the prevalence of other social messaging apps in the U.S. marketplace like Skype, Apple's Messages, and Facebook are part of the reason Line can't seem to crack that particular market.