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Willis Wee · · 1 min read

Line Targets Kids With Toy Smartphone (PICS)

line-characters

120 million users ain’t enough for Line. Together with Takaratomy, the popular mobile chat application is targeting kids with its upcoming Line toy smartphone. Rick from Startup Dating reports that the phone is not a functional smartphone but will have NFC to allow kids to exchange stamps and messages when two toy Line phones are in contact. The toy is scheduled to launch on August 8 and will cost around $70.

It’s an interesting strategy from Line and probably the first of its kind among mobile chat apps. Japan-based Line Corp also recently launched its own cartoon series which probably has the same target group in mind. It’s perhaps fair to speculate that manga or kids-only games will be developed along the way to serve this audience if it proves to be profitable.

[Source: SD Japan via Impress]

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Community Writer

Willis Wee

Founder at Tech in Asia. Aspires to build a company and product that people love.