A TechCrunch report said Japan-based messaging app Line did not see a pressing need to go public. This was according to Line's Jun Masuda in an interview with the technology-focused website. Masuda said, "Of course you're going to ask questions about an IPO. It's a strategy we're thinking about, especially looking at services like Twitter. But at the current moment, we don't believe that it's something that we have to do right away. We currently have enough cash and we don't have a pressing need to do an IPO."
However, sources said the company was thinking of going public in the middle of next year, TechCrunch reported.
Line's quarterly revenue is pegged at close to USD 100 million. For the quarter that ended in September, Line posted net sales of JPY 9.9 billion or USD 99.9 million. In the past six months, the company hasdalso doubled its overall revenues to JPY 15.6 billion or USD 157.6 million. The figure included the amount the company needed to pay developers and app stores.
Line was spun out from parent firm NHN earlier in 2013. It had launched just after the 2011 earthquake, which destroyed the nuclear power plant at Fukushima. Although Line had not revealed how many active users of its app has on a monthly basis, the app revealed to have 280 million registered users around the world. In Japan, Line has a following of 49 million registered users.
The app is so popular in Japan that two gaming companies which had ruled the mobile gaming market in Japan saw their shares dropped with Line's entry to the market. According to the TechCrunch report, DeNA's Mobage network saw its shares plunge 32.5%, while GREE's took a 41.5% fall in the last year.
Meanwhile, Line continued to grow in the gaming industry. It already has 39 published titles and has deals in the pipeline to introduce games from third parties overseas into the Japanese market.
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