A handful of smartphone apps that began as basic instant messaging services have amassed several hundred million users in Asia in just a couple of years, mounting a challenge to the popularity of online hangouts such as Facebook as they branch into games, e-commerce, celebrity news and other areas.

Among them is Line, which has grown to 60 million users, mostly in Asia including at least 29 million in Japan. Also popular is Kakao Talk with 60 million users, more than half in South Korea where it originates. Other successful messengers are Nimbuzz, made by an India-based firm, which has amassed 100 million users including 31 million in Asia, and WeChat by China-based Tencent, which is nearing 200 million users.

The rapid growth of such applications underlines that people are increasingly going online using mobile phones and other wireless devices. It is a trend that has proved problematic for the world's most popular social networking site. Facebook has lost more than US$50 billion (approximately NT$1.5 trillion) of its market value since its initial public offering, largely due to doubts about its ability to successfully insert advertising into the mobile version that a large and growing number of its 1 billion users access from smartphones.

"Japan, Korea and to a lesser extent China are leading the way in terms of mobile messaging-centric apps that are moving into diverse and potentially very profitable new service areas like gaming and affiliate marketing," said analyst Mark Ranson at research firm Ovum.

Instant messaging, also known as IM, was first popularized on desktop computers with applications such as MSN Messenger. Smartphone IM apps such as Line have evolved into online destinations in their own right. "I use Line messenger every day, almost every hour," said Supinda Toochinda, a 31-year-old interior designer in Bangkok. She said Line was the only mobile application she'd spent money with, buying elaborate emoticons called stickers that can be sent to friends while chatting.

Analysts say these mobile messengers are showing more nimble and promising moves in the efforts to make such mobile services profitable without relying solely on advertising.

"Kakao Talk and Line are seeing opportunities as Facebook isn't making money from users of its mobile website and app," said Ryu Han-seok, director of the Technology, Labor and Culture Institute, a consulting company, in Seoul. "In the mobile markets in Asia, they are ahead of the game. It is probably tough to compete with Facebook in the U.S. or Europe. But in Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, they have a good chance of beating Facebook," said Ryu.