Meddelandeapp kan bli årets största technotering
Line tar sikte på det som kan bli årets största börsnotering av ett techbolag med en värdering på mellan 5 och 6 miljarder dollar, skriver Bloomberg. Bolaget bakom en av Asiens mest populära meddelandeappar söker just nu kapital på mellan 1 och 2 miljarder dollar för en notering i både Tokyo och på Wall Street.
bakgrund
Line
Wikipedia (en)
Line (styled "LINE") is a proprietary application for instant communications on electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet computers and personal computers. Line users exchange texts, images, video and audio, and conduct free VoIP conversations and video conferences. Line was designed by 15 members of NHN, a subsidiary of the Korean Internet search giant Naver, composed of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and US engineers. Its logo shares the same symbolic green color as Naver.
Line first launched in Japan in 2011, reaching 100 million users within eighteen months and 200 million users only six months later. Line became Japan's largest social network in 2013. In October 2014 Line announced that it had attracted 560 million users worldwide with 170 million active user accounts. In February 2015, it announced the 600 million mark had been passed and 700 million were expected by the end of the year.
Line was originally developed as a mobile application for Android and iOS smartphones. The service has since expanded to BlackBerry (August 2012), Nokia Asha (Asia and Oceania, March 2013), Windows Phone (July 2013), Firefox OS (February 2014) iOS tablets (October 2014), and as a Chrome Browser Application (via the Chrome Web Store). At one point Line was available as a website (non-browser-app), but that has been discontinued. The application also exists in versions for laptop and desktop computers using the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS platforms.
Line began in 2011 as the brainchild of engineers at the NHN arm of the Naver Corporation based in South Korea. Today the popular messaging service is operated by Line Corporation, a spinoff company headquartered in Japan, which still remains a subsidiary of South Korean internet giant, Naver.
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