What are the future development strategies for LINE's distinctive services such as LINE Stickers, LINE Manga, and LINE Music? How will they integrate into the broader ecosystem?

To put it simply: LINE's goal is to become a "daily essential" super app.

Think of LINE today as a giant online lifestyle hub. It started primarily as a communication tool (the town square), but now it aims to be the one place where you handle everything: entertainment, news, shopping, payments, etc. Its sticker packs, manga, music, and other services are like the most popular "featured stores" within this hub.

The future strategy is to make these "stores" not only thrive individually but also drive traffic to each other, encouraging you to shop at one and then wander to the next, ideally staying within the hub itself.

Let's break down the key services:

#### 1. LINE Stickers - Evolving from "Communication Tool" to "IP Incubator"

Stickers are LINE’s cornerstone and one of its most lucrative businesses. Their future extends far beyond just making chats more fun.

*   **Strategy One: Making Creativity More Valuable (Creator Economy)**
    *   Many creators already sell their designs on LINE Creators Market. Future plans aim to streamline and globalize this process. Imagine easily sketching a cute character on your phone and selling the stickers worldwide. This incentivizes more talent, enriches sticker variety, and creates a virtuous cycle.

*   **Strategy Two: From Static to Dynamic to Interactive**
    *   Moving past static images and animated/sound stickers, the next frontier could be "AR stickers" (e.g., having CONY wave from your desk) or stickers with simple interactive features. The goal is to make communication more engaging and immersive.

*   **Strategy Three: Building Super IPs (Intellectual Property)**
    *   Characters like BROWN and CONY have transcended stickers—they star in animations, sell merchandise, and even have cafes. Future hit stickers could be similarly developed into the next big LINE IPs. These could star in LINE Manga comics, be featured in LINE games, or collaborate with artists on LINE Music. Stickers are the starting point and inspiration engine.

#### 2. LINE Manga & LINE Webtoon - Building a "Mobile-First" Marvel Universe

Mobile manga, especially vertically scrolling "webtoons," dominates now. LINE Manga is a leader here.

*   **Strategy One: Heavy Investment in Original Content**
    *   Simply licensing others' manga isn't enough. LINE will invest heavily to sign and nurture its own artists, creating exclusive "original hits" only available on LINE—much like Netflix produces its own "Stranger Things" to attract and retain users.

*   **Strategy Two: "One Source, Multiple Use" (Media Mix)**
    *   This is the critical step. A hit LINE Manga/Webtoon holds value far beyond panels.
        *   **Dramatization:** Adaptation into anime, TV dramas, movies.
        *   **Gamification:** Development into mobile games.
        *   **Merchandising:** Creation of figurines, stationery, and, naturally, **LINE stickers!**
    *   Imagine reading a manga on LINE Manga, listening to its theme song on LINE Music, using stickers featuring the hero’s catchphrase in chats, and finally buying the hero’s T-shirt on LINE Shopping. This entire loop keeps you immersed in LINE's ecosystem.

#### 3. LINE Music - Not a Second Spotify, But "Social Music"

The music app market is fiercely competitive with giants like Spotify and Apple Music. LINE Music focuses on differentiation.

*   **Strategy One: Deep Integration with Chatting**
    *   This is LINE Music’s biggest strength. You can set songs as profile background music (BGM), showcasing your taste to friends. Effortlessly share tracks to group chats or enjoy “online listening parties” with friends. Here, music is not just for listening—it’s for socializing.

*   **Strategy Two: Focus on Fandom Economics**
    *   By collaborating with idols/artists for exclusive perks (concert ticket lotteries, exclusive live streams, fan groups via LINE OpenChat for subscribers), LINE Music becomes essential for superfans, ensuring high user retention.

### How Do They Integrate into the Broader Ecosystem?

The strategies above already suggest two keywords: **Synergy** and **Data**.

1.  **Synergy: 1 + 1 > 2**
    *   **Payments as the Glue:** Buying stickers, unlocking manga chapters, or subscribing to music all require **LINE Pay**. This payment function seamlessly binds services together.
    *   **Cross-Promotion:** Finish a manga? Stream its theme song. Enjoy an artist's song? Download their stickers. Each service acts as a gateway to others within the ecosystem. The more you use one LINE service, the more likely you are to discover and use another.
    *   **Unified Rewards:** Using services earns **LINE Points**, redeemable across the ecosystem. This "membership system" encourages ecosystem loyalty.

2.  **Data is the "Secret Sauce"**
    *   Your interactions within LINE generate valuable data, revealing preferences for stickers, manga genres, and artists.
    *   This data enables LINE to **proactively anticipate your needs**.
        *   Often reading romance manga? LINE Today might suggest relevant articles.
        *   Frequently listening to a band? Ads for their merchandise on LINE Shopping will surface.
    *   This hyper-personalized approach enhances your experience while boosting LINE’s commercial potential.

**In short, LINE's strategy makes each service individually engaging and useful, creating an exponentially better experience when used together. The ultimate goal is to make users indispensably entwined within this vast network of communication, entertainment, payments, and shopping.**