Japan-based LINE Corp plans to make its free call and instant messaging app, LINE, available in Hindi and Tamil and hopes this localisation strategy will help it cross the 20 million users mark by end of calendar 2013.
LINE was launched in the country in July, and the number of users in India has touched “10 million, far exceeding our expectations,” Akira Morikawa, chief operating officer LINE Corporation, told reporters in Mumbai on Saturday. Globally, LINE has over 200 million users.
“We haven’t experienced such rapid growth (in India) in any other country to date,” he said, adding the company has tied up with Sony India to have LINE pre-installed on the Xperia Z1 and Xperia C smartphones.
The company has also roped in Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif to be their India brand ambassador.
Free calling apps or instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Line, Viber or WeChat have been growing exponentially in India and revenue from SMS has shown a marginal dip for all operators.
Read More