LINE representative director and CEO Takeshi Idezawa pointed out that even though Indonesia was one of its top four markets, the app had yet to earn top position in the country.

“We’re focusing on Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, so these four markets are important to us. In Indonesia, unfortunately, we are not number one yet,” he said on Friday. “For Indonesia, messengers will be used more often. We want firmer ground on the platform.”

Facebook-owned messaging service Whatsapp is the most used app in Indonesia.

The combined number of LINE service users in its four-largest markets is 171 million at present, an increase of more than 13 percent from last year, with 40 percent of the users in Japan, where it leads the market.

LINE said Thailand and Indonesia continued to offer growth potential, while it attributed Japan and Taiwan as mature markets, where there would be little change in terms of messaging app market share for various companies.

Consequently, with the current situation, Idezawa said the company would focus on expanding the market and “try to focus strategically” before rolling out its newest services in Indonesia.

“We need to wait until we have a stronger position in messaging, take the top share in messenger service rather than expanding to other services. We would like to focus on the messenger service,” he added.

In its annual conference last Thursday, LINE announced its vision for the next five years, dubbed “communication first,” and the main services that it would provide in the near future.

The services will include increasing video and streaming capabilities as a shift from text, tapping and offering artificial intelligence (AI) technology, as well as connecting more services to the messaging app.

For instance, it will provide short video stream on its timeline, such as previously championed by social media platforms Instagram and Snapchat, as well as integrating its previously launched real-time video stream LINE LIVE to the messaging service.

However, the main announcement was its venture in AI by rolling out smart home device Wave, which will be connected to its own cloud AI platform, called Clova.

Users can perform various tasks, including getting basic information on weather, setting up to-do lists and send messages through LINE chat, through voice command to the device. It will be launched in Japan in the fall.

The company, which was launched in 2011, said it also aimed to cater to the needs of its users during the “post-smartphone” era.

“Now that the smartphone is entering the maturity phase, we also feel that we are also at the end of the transition phase. We believe that it is the AI,” Idezawa said.

Idezawa said the company was still discussing whether it wanted to push LINE Live and streaming service LINE TV further in Indonesia. LINE Live has only been available in Japan, while LINE TV is currently only available in Thailand.

LINE director and chief strategy and marketing officer Jun Masuda said the company would also apply localization to penetrate the market, including in Indonesia.

The app provided specialized services such as LINE Jobs for job seekers as well as classmate-connecting feature in Indonesia.

LINE seeks to partner with Indonesian developers to provide local content, such as stickers. It cooperates with homegrown transportation app Go-Jek and state major lender Bank Mandiri at the moment.

In the first quarter of the year, the company recorded 55.7 billion yen (US$502.85 million) in revenue from its platform, a 47 percent increase from the same period last year, while its advertising revenue rose 49.6 percent to 13.9 billion yen.

LINE senior director of global communications Brian Lee said until now, LINE had not monetized its service in Indonesia.

Popular

To my horror, it’s just a movie!

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Pentagon chief congratulates Prabowo on being elected President