After beating Google, Korea's Naver goes global with messaging app Line

The icon of messaging app "Line" is pictured on an Apple iPhone in this Aug 14, 2012 file photo illustration taken in Tokyo. The billionaire founder of web portal operator Naver Corp beat back Google Inc to leave South Korea one of few countries
The icon of messaging app "Line" is pictured on an Apple iPhone in this Aug 14, 2012 file photo illustration taken in Tokyo. The billionaire founder of web portal operator Naver Corp beat back Google Inc to leave South Korea one of few countries where the US search engine does not dominate. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

SEOUL (REUTERS) - The billionaire founder of web portal operator Naver Corp beat back Google Inc to leave South Korea one of few countries where the US search engine does not dominate.

Now, Lee Hae-jin is stepping onto the world stage with Line, a messaging app developed by a subsidiary in Japan to overcome downed communications after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

But Lee will face a very different market to the one that welcomed Naver.com.

Instead of developing a local lead and fending off a global giant, Lee will have to take on established rivals in an international context.

"I am playing the part of an attacking winger who needs to run to break through the global market," Lee, 47, said recently, referring to a goal-scoring role in soccer akin to that of FIFA Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

Line has lured 470 million users with its simple design and elaborate emoticons, such as a cartoon happy-go-lucky rabbit.

Its user base eclipses that of local peer Kakao Corp's KakaoTalk and places Line nearer Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat and Facebook Inc's WhatsApp.

To fund expansion and close the gap, bankers familiar with the matter said Naver is considering selling shares of Line Corp in Tokyo, New York or both.

They said any initial public offering could value the subsidiary at up to US$20 billion (S$24.92 billion).

On listing plans, Line and Naver declined to comment.

GOOGLE Lee founded Naver.com in 1999 to rival the portal of Daum Communications Corp and Korean-language versions of foreign entrants such as Yahoo! Inc. Naver.com attracted clicks with features such as a user question-and-answer forum and a search engine which displays results from news, blogs and other categories on a single page.

The portal built up such a lead that its search engine makes up 75 per cent of the search market, according to researcher KoreanClick.

Google, which embarked on a major push in Korea in 2006, holds 2 per cent.

That put South Korea in a handful of markets including China and Russia where Google is not the dominant force.

It also left Naver the country's fifth-most valuable stock with a capitalisation of 27 trillion won (S$33.21 billion).

But in just three years, Line has grown to account for nearly a quarter of Naver's 638 billion won in January-March revenue by selling ads, games and emoticons, known as stamps.

Around 80 per cent of Line's revenue comes from Japan.

Elsewhere, Thailand and Indonesia are big markets in terms of user numbers, and as part of its global expansion, Line has made inroads in Mexico and the United States.

The messaging market is still growing and it is likely to take a couple years before any app solidifies itself as a leader in particular countries, said Tom Mowat, principal analyst at Analysys Mason.

"The next few years will be decisive for the global messaging market," Lee said in rare public appearance at a conference on the resort island of Jeju.

"So we will concentrate on growing our user base in the near term as opposed to profitability."

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