LINE Corp optimistic about Myanmar market

"The country is full of opportunities and LINE already received such a warm welcome from the start. To strengthen our position in Myanmar from now on, we will look into introducing new free service/ features that answer the needs and preferences of the population such as Group Chat and Video Call," said Darin Hwang, general manager of LINE Myanmar.

He said the firm has put in a massive investment to establish LINE in this market. With its localised strategy, LINE plans to roll out several marketing　initiatives and campaigns that aim to excite, educate and engage with its target users. But he refused to disclose the number of users in the country due to the firm’s internal policy.

"People of Myanmar are　positively open to try new things and we believe we have what they are looking for… The growth we witness now is a promising sign that we are going the right way," he said.

Hwang added that LINE would focus on localised strategy and will carefully select services and features that are suitable for local people such as localised stickers by using Myanmar word "Mingalaba".

"By　localised strategy　we mean delivering products and services that address local users’　needs and aspirations. To achieve our strategy, we must obtain a deep understanding of local insights combined with LINE’s unique features and expertise," he said.

"Sticker is one of the fastest and effective ways to launch in a new market. Soon we are going to launch the first set of localised sticker, which sees LINE characters dressed in traditional Myanmar costumes acting out local expressions."

Hwang said the stickers would be offered free of charge so that Myanmar people can easily convey their feelings and emotions to their friends and loved ones. He added that the firm would consider securing partnerships.

"We are open for good opportunities to work together with both local and international firms operating in Myanmar. In this early stage, we are working closely with some major device manufacturers and retailers, as well as a number of leading telecommunications companies to allow users easier and more convenient access to our services," he said.

"Currently, we have a dedicated operations team for Myanmar and they are working across borders to ensure that our launch in Myanmar is successful."

Asian Development Outlook 2015, an annual publication of Asian Development Bank published last month forecasts Myanmar’s economic growth at 8.3 per cent in 2015-16 FY and expects growth to remain over 8 per cent in the next fiscal years. As the economic growth leads to an increase in mobile penetration, the firm considers it as a great opportunity for its market expansion.

"Since LINE is not just a mobile chat application, but a Smartphone Life Platform which aims to enhance users’ lives with our wide range of apps, this opportunity will not just enable us to reach more users but also allow us to deliver our next wave of services effectively and seamlessly," he said.

Hwang said that the upcoming launch of Asean Economic Community by the end of this year would give a promising future to mobile apps users as they can experience much more variety and efficiency of the services provided.

The firm’s representative said that Thai and Myanmar markets share similarities as both love using mobile messaging as a new way to engage with their friends and loved ones.

"Since Myanmar is an emerging market, the people are positively open for new things and willing to try new technology. In particular, Myanmar people are interested in video calls and calls to landlines as these are quite new features to their market," he said.

On the firm’s overall vision for the Asean market, he said, "As a global smart- phone life platform, we are hoping to bring Asean people closer, to enable them to reconnect in meaningful ways without the limitation from time or distance. We will also keep developing new features, services and family apps."

Since its release in June 2011, the cross-platform mobile messenger has been releasing a series of add-on apps that range from games to an anti-virus app. Today, LINE has become a hot cultural icon with 181 million monthly active users in 230 countries. The firm also held the coveted No. 1 spot in the 'free apps' category of app stores in 69 regions.