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Slideshow Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Britain warns Ecuador it could enter embassy to get Assange 15 Aug 2012 UPDATE 2-US hypersonic aircraft crashes seconds into military test flight 15 Aug 2012 Militants attack major Pakistan air base; 9 killed | 4:18am EDT Stylus, split-screen stand new Samsung tablet apart 2:25am EDT Dallas mayor declares emergency over West Nile virus 15 Aug 2012 Discussed 138 Obama’s lead over Romney grows despite voters’ pessimism 122 Romney to announce vice presidential choice Saturday 94 Analysis: Are Israelis tough enough for a long war with Iran? Sponsored Links Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Life without sight A glimpse at the lives of visually impaired children and adults. Slideshow Quakes hit Iran The aftermath of two powerful quakes in northwest Iran. Slideshow Born from Japan disasters, Line app sets sights on U.S., China Tweet Share this Email Print Related News China demands Japan release activists over island protest Wed, Aug 15 2012 Facebook shares dive as deadline for insider sales nears Thu, Aug 2 2012 Microsoft revamps Hotmail as social-friendly Outlook Tue, Jul 31 2012 Facebook's value slides by $10 billion; outlook unclear Fri, Jul 27 2012 Facebook revenue growth skids, shares plunge Fri, Jul 27 2012 Analysis & Opinion Facebook’s market meltdown is far from over Decision time for Glencore on Xstrata Related Topics Tech » Media » Facebook » By Mari Saito TOKYO | Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:24am EDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Born in the chaos after Japan's 2011 disasters, the smartphone application "Line" has attracted 50 million users faster than Facebook with a made-in-Japan blend of cute and the promise of free communication. Now, the company behind the application is readying an online media campaign to promote the app in China and the United States to sustain its meteoric growth rate and hit the 100 million-user mark by December. "In the smartphone business, you can't win unless you're No.1 in the world in terms of membership," Akira Morikawa, the president of NHN Japan, told Reuters. The company, a unit of South Korea's NHN Corp and which also runs the Naver search engine in Japan, created the Line app after the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that struck northeast Japan in March 2011 disrupted phone lines across the country. NHN Japan employees, forced to turn to the Internet to reach each other, decided to develop Line, which launched in June 2011. While it took Facebook more than three years to reach 58 million users from its launch in 2004 to 2007, Line reached 50 million users in just over a year. The online campaign is set to begin in the second half and will target U.S. and Chinese users via various websites, although the company declined to elaborate. NHN Japan used television commercials to promote the app in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, but said it has not decided whether to use the same approach in the new markets. Line allows users to text and call from their smartphones using the existing data plan so users can communicate via the Internet and not be charged for a cell call. It has topped Apple Inc's App Store rankings for downloads in 24 countries from Kuwait to Kazakhstan. To distinguish itself from other communication apps, Line offers its own games, a camera app, and a social platform complete with a timeline and homepage, similar to Facebook. SURVIVAL OF THE CUTEST? Line is best known for its "stamps," elaborate emoticons, like cartoon characters of a happy-go-lucky rabbit, that users can send each other in a text message when words fail. Exhaustion is conveyed by the image of a sleepwalking bunny for example. Many stamps are free, but users can pay an extra $2 for premium stamps for characters like Tweety Bird and Snoopy. Japanese pop culture's fascination with the concept of cute, or "kawaii," plays well in other Asian countries and some characters like Hello Kitty have gained popularity in the United States and Europe. Still, some analysts wonder if Line's characters will travel. "The characters and stamps are popular in Asia, but I am not sure if it will translate in the United States," said Yuki Nakayasu, a research analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. Line also faces tough competition in both China and the United States from the likes of WeChat, run by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, and Silicon Valley's WhatsApp. The application may also face government-imposed restrictions in China. Facebook and Twitter, as well as prominent websites like YouTube, are blocked in China. "Line is cute and such an unconventional application that it's probably going to be more successful in markets that are culturally closer to Japan, said Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based technology consultant. "But WeChat is too dominant and the Chinese system of government restriction will not let a social application from Japan become a dominant player." In Japan, Line poses a threat to established social gaming heavyweights DeNA Co Ltd and Gree Inc, while it has already surpassed Mixi Inc, a domestic social networking platform that has lost ground to Facebook. Some revenue comes from advertising. Line charges companies like Coca-Cola and Japanese cup-noodle maker Nissin Foods to sponsor stamps. Some recent Coke mascots involved an Olympic theme. From this April to mid-July, revenue from stamps sold to individuals totaled 500 million yen ($6.4 million). That excludes sponsorships, a figure the company does not disclose. Line has yet to turn a profit, but Morikawa said its owners are patient. The hope is that the service can become a marketing tool for the rest of NHN Japan's divisions by tying users into its search and gaming platforms. "We're still in an investment phase," Morikawa said. ($1 = 78.19 Japanese yen) (Additional reporting by Maki Shiraki. Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Matt Driskill) Tech Media Facebook Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. 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