End of the Line? Messaging app in big trouble as active user growth stalls

The company behind Line this morning revealed that the messaging app has grown to 212 million monthly active users (MAUs). Of those, 65 percent are in Line’s four core markets – Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Although the number is going up, it’s actually terrible news for the messaging app. It’s already failed to topple the dominance of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and now Line’s MAU count is growing very slowly – it’s up just 10 million in the past six months. It went up only one million in the three months from June to September.

WhatsApp added 100 million MAUs in the five months from April to September and now stands at 900 million.

Here is Line’s progress in terms of MAUs since the company first revealed the figure a year ago:

No new markets

Even worse is that Line is becoming more and more dependent on its four main markets. Six months ago, 60 percent of Line’s users were in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Now it’s at 65 percent. That means the social network is not finding new audiences in larger nations where smartphones are booming, such as India or Brazil. Line is blocked in China, but it had already been trounced by WeChat when that happened.

In short, Line has totally lost the war against Facebook’s messaging apps – and we’ll soon see its MAU count drop unless it can find fresh audiences.

Elsewhere in Line Corp’s Q3 earnings report, Line has squeezed more revenue from its slow-growing user base. Revenue for the quarter was JPY 29.9 billion (US$247.8 million), up 18 percent over Q2, and a 38 percent increase on the same period a year ago. As usual, Line Corp, which has repeatedly delayed its IPO, did not reveal numbers showing if it is running a profit or a loss.

What’s the messaging app of choice in your country? Do you think Line’s MAUs will drop by the end of the year? Hit us up in the comments.