As publishers release more content, worldwide mobile gaming revenue will grow from $2.9 billion in 2006 to $9.6 billion in 2011, according to Gartner, Inc.
Mobile Gaming Revenue To Grow 50 Percent
Globally mobile gaming revenue is on track to reach $4.3 billion in 2007, a 49.9 percent increase from 2006.
“Given the ubiquity of mobile phones in many markets and the ease of game-play, mobile gaming is expected to reach more of the global population than has been the case for traditional PC and console gaming,” said Tuong Huy Nguyen, senior research analyst at Gartner.
“This will catapult mobile gaming revenue beyond that from mobile TV and adult content, but we still expect it to lag behind mobile music, since music is a more familiar form of entertainment.”
Mobile gaming revenue in Asia/Pacific and Japan is projected to be over $1.8 billion in 2007 and reach $4.6 billion in 2011. The large revenue is related to higher data consumption in countries such as South Korea and Japan along with the popularity of mobile gaming.
“One of the things driving mobile gaming in developed markets is the availability of faster processors in mobile devices, which enable faster response times, 3-D graphics and advanced sound capabilities, as well as less-expensive and bigger storage capabilities for memory-intensive games,” said Nick Ingelbrecht, research director at Gartner.
In Western Europe, mobile gaming revenue is forecast to grow from $1.5 billion in 2007 to $2 billion in 2011.
In North America mobile gaming revenue is expected to hit $716.9 million in 2007 and reach $1.7 billion in 2011. North America has been slower to adopt mobile gaming than many anticipated. Gartner says part of the reason is due to slower adoption of wireless technologies.
“Network speeds and 3G deployments have also had an impact on mobile gaming update and data adoption in general,” Mr. Nguyen said. “2.5G data rates have made downloading, and especially browsing, tedious, deterring significant adoption of mobile games.”
