Korean firm sets sights on mobile-crazy Phl market

MANILA, Philippines - Line, a smartphone application, owned by Korean Internet giant, has set its sights on the mobile-crazy Philippine market.

In a recent media briefing, Line general manager Jin-woo Lee said the vibrant features of Line are expected to capture Filipinos’ love for expression and communication.

 â€œWith Line, you can express more,” he said.

Line now has 150 million users worldwide since the company launched its platform in 2011. The mobile phone application allows users to enjoy free calls and messages to one another, both nationally and internationally.

Lee said the company hopes to add at least 10 million users from the Philippines even as it continues to be in demand in many other countries across the globe – from Japan and South Korea in Asia to Spain in Europe.

 â€œAs the texting capital of the world, the Philippines is home to technologically-savvy people that know exactly what they want to get out of their smartphone apps. And Filipinos will get much more than simple calls and text messages with Line,” said Lee.

As a mobile messaging application, Line offers both free text messaging and calls on a user-friendly interface along with a wide array of vibrant gaming and social networking features.

During the briefing, Lee said what makes Line unique are its “colorful, quirky and fun” stickers or icons that are highly expressive.

Lee said there’s also a “slew of moods and emotions from four main characters – Brown, Cony, Moon and James.”

The company also recently launched a sticker series starring K-POP star Psy.

Lee said the different stickers or icons Line offers suits Filipinos because of their love for expressing their emotions.

“With Line, you don’t even need words to be able to share thoughts and feelings and communicate vividly; you just need to pick the right sticker that depicts what you want to say,” he said.

As an added feature, Line offers an integration of social media features such as home and timeline along with other Official accounts.

Through these home and timeline features, users can share their status messages and updates for their contacts to see, similar to the more popular social networking giants Twitter and Facebook.

Lee said that many Filipinos who are big K-Pop and Hollywood fans, can see them online via Line’s Official Accounts.

 â€œWe are currently working on expanding the roster for our Official Accounts, especially with the K-POP stars. We are aware that many Filipinos are huge K-POP fans and we hope to be the bridge between them and the starts they idolize,” Lee said.

Lee is optimistic that the Philippine market would enjoy Line and its many features.

 â€œWe look forward to reaching out to Filipinos. We hope to create fun and lasting connections among them and their loves. We will continue to work on improving our platform and be as imaginative as possible in creating new content and features that users will enjoy,” Lee said.