Redundant Business Operations: LINE and Yahoo have overlapping functional applications and services. How will the company decide which will be retained, merged, or terminated?

LINE and Yahoo!'s "Housecleaning": What Happens to Duplicate Apps and Services?

This is quite interesting—think of it like two people moving in together after getting married and suddenly discovering they have two TVs, two sets of cookware, and even two vacuum cleaners with similar functions. At this point, they must sit down and discuss: What should be done about these duplicates?

LINE and Yahoo! JAPAN, now merged into LY Corporation, face the same challenge. They now handle too many apps and services with overlapping functions—news, payments, search, and more. Doing nothing not only wastes money (two teams, two sets of servers to maintain) but also confuses users ("Which one should I use?").

Thus, they must undertake a "housecleaning." Typically, deciding an app’s fate involves evaluating key questions like a checklist:

🤔 1. Which Has More Users—and Higher Value? (User Base and Value)

This is straightforward: Which app has more users? More importantly, how many use it daily (high activity)? Are they willing to pay (strong monetization potential)?

• Example: Say LINE’s news service has 80 million users, while Yahoo! News has 70 million. But Yahoo!’s user base skews older—prime targets for advertisers with deep pockets—while LINE’s younger users engage more actively with content. The company must weigh: Is sheer user volume better, or is user monetization potential more valuable?

💰 2. Which One Lays "Golden Eggs"? (Profitability)

Money ultimately matters. Which product has stronger revenue generation? Does it monetize better through ads, user payments, or e-commerce conversion?

• Example: Both LINE Pay and PayPay (Yahoo!’s SoftBank-backed payment tool) have huge user bases. But PayPay dominates offline small merchants, with exceptional transaction volume and fee revenue. Even if LINE Pay is seamlessly integrated, from the company’s profitability perspective, PayPay might be the golden goose.

🚀 3. Who's Technologically Stronger? (Technical and Functional Edge)

Beyond users and money, the product’s quality is key.

• Which app has a more advanced, scalable architecture?
• Which runs smoother with fewer bugs?
• Which offers unique, beloved features the other lacks?

Sometimes, despite having fewer users, an app with solid technical foundations may be kept as a "rising star," with the company gradually migrating users from the weaker product.

🧭 4. Which Aligns With the Company’s "Big Picture"? (Strategic Fit)

The merged company has a future vision—perhaps building an all-in-one "Super App" or doubling down on FinTech.

• When evaluating duplicates, they’ll prioritize whichever aligns best with this grand vision. If the goal is dominating finance, the payment tool with superior capabilities and deeper banking ties stays—even with fewer current users.

🔧 5. What’s the Cost of "Moving"? (Migration Risk and Cost)

This is the reality check. Shutting down an app requires moving millions of users seamlessly—a massive challenge.

• Forcing users to switch apps? They might flee to competitors.
• Can data migrate smoothly? Chat histories, payment details, friend lists—can they transfer securely?
• How much engineering and customer support resources will this demand?

If migration is too costly or risky, the company might temporarily maintain both apps or phase in integration over years.

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So, What Outcomes Can We Expect?

Weighing these factors, duplicate apps typically face these fates:

1. Survival of the Fittest (A Stays, B Goes)
   The most common outcome. After full analysis, the stronger app survives while the other is phased out, with users guided to migrate. For example, only one payment brand may remain.

2. Fusion to Forge Something Better (A + B = C)
   If both apps excel in different areas—say, A has tech prowess and B has UX magic—the teams may merge. Their strengths combine into a new, superior Product C, replacing A and B entirely.

3. Coexistence Through Repositioning (A & B Stay, But Diverge)
   Like keeping both a wok and a skillet for different dishes, apps with overlaps may be repositioned for distinct user groups or scenarios.

   • Example: One news app focuses on serious reporting, while another offers bite-size entertainment updates.

4. Joint Retirement (Both A & B Get Scrapped)
   Rare but possible. If the merged company deems this business area non-strategic—or too competitive to sustain—both apps may be sunsetted to free up resources for bigger priorities.

In short, this is far from a snap decision. It’s a complex process driven by data, strategy, and human considerations. For users, familiar apps may vanish or transform in the coming years—all results of LY Corporation’s "housecleaning."