Total number of users reaches 100 million! Yahoo merges with Japan's largest messaging app LINE

According to Japanese media reports, Yahoo! J APAN 's parent company merged its business with Japan 's largest communication software operator LINE on March 1 to become Japan's giant digital "platform" with a total number of approximately 100 million users after the merger .

The integration aims to create synergies in each company's business by directing Line application users to Yahoo Japan's online shopping site , and to fully leverage the business strengths of the two companies to collaborate .

In Japan, about 80 million people use Yahoo! JAPAN services each year , and 86 million people use Line's free messaging application each month . With Yahoo! JAPAN and Line becoming wholly owned subsidiaries of Z Holdings, Z Holdings will provide online services to about 100 million users in Japan .

In addition, Line has 81 million users in places such as Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia . Z Holdings also plans to expand e-commerce and financial services, which are currently only available in Japan, to other Asian countries through LINE 's overseas bases .

In the e-commerce sector, Z Holdings said it aims to become Japan's largest e-commerce operator and achieve sales of 2 trillion yen ($19 billion ) and operating income of 225 billion yuan in fiscal 2023 .

The two companies had combined sales of 1.28 trillion yen in fiscal 2019 , slightly lower than the 1.4 trillion yen ($13 billion) of Rakuten Inc. , one of Japan's largest online commerce operators .

In the field of quick payment, Z Holdings said it has started internal negotiations to integrate LINE's LINE Pay smartphone payment service into PayPay operated by SoftBank Group Corporation by April 2022. These two payment methods account for about 60% of the market share of Japan's QR code payment services .

But a Z Holdings spokesperson said: "LINE Pay will not be absorbed by PayPay, and since LINE Pay has already gained a large number of users in certain countries, it will continue to remain in overseas markets.

With LINE being officially merged into Z Holdings, once LINE starts working for Yahoo! JAPAN , online shopping platforms such as Yahoo Shopping and Yahoo Auctions will usher in a new round of explosion in both users and sales.

Yahoo Japan

LINE

E-commerce