Mobile game market stagnating
While the mobile telephone gaming industry has been stimulated on one hand by the release of the iPhone, recent research suggests that download volumes are stagnating in North America and Western Europe.
The report found that although the retail value of the global mobile games market is expected to rise from $5.4bn in 2008 to more than $10bn in 2013, the potential for growth in many key markets is being dampened by a combination of limited on-portal revenue share for publishers and poor games marketing.
According to report author Dr Windsor Holden “The revenue share offered by Apple to games publishers is incredibly attractive. The danger is that if operators do not respond with a similar business model, publishers faced with low margins may simply exit Java completely, thereby reducing consumer choice in the longer term.”
The report also found that while ad-funded downloads have increased in popularity, the revenues accrued from advertising are unlikely to be sufficient to provide developers or operators with a primary revenue stream.
The Juniper study remained optimistic about prospects for growth in regions such as the Indian Sub Continent, Africa/Middle East and South America, where the combination of increased mobile adoption and low levels of penetration of both games consoles and fixed Internet means that the mobile handset has already become the de facto gaming device.
The report also indicated that for the mobile gaming industry to prosper, service providers are going to have to change their business model and reduce out of bundle data prices. It suggests that this needs to happen in order to promote more relaxed mobile internet usage.
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