Facebook Targeted in U.S. as Asian Chat App Line Invades: Tech
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Line, the Asian chat app that reached 100 million users about three times faster than Facebook Inc., is putting growth before profit to take on the U.S. social-networking giant and Twitter Inc. in their own backyard.
With 38 percent of its users in Japan, developer NHN Japan Corp. is honing plans to expand Line’s reach, setting up a U.S. marketing team and planning joint promotions and content-delivery agreements with local companies. NHN Japan is still at an investment phase as it targets as many as 1 billion customers globally, said Jun Masuda, chief strategy and marketing officer.