Mobile games continue to show impressive growth

Mobile games are beginning to play a larger role in the lives of people around the world. Mobile analytics firm Distimo and mobile commerce firm MEF have released a new report concerning the trends that have emerged worldwide concerning the use of mobile application. The report shows that mobile games have come to represent a significant percentage of all application downloads. These games also make up the majority of the revenue that the applications sector is responsible for.

Games account for majority of app revenue

According to the report, mobile games represent 31% of all application downloads around the world. While this may seem like a small share of the given market, these games also represent 71% of the total revenue of Apple’s App Store and 89% of the revenue of Google Play. Many mobile games are free to play, but include in-game purchases that allow users to spend money to unlock additional content. Much of the revenue that these games produce come from these purchases.

Freemium model proves lucrative for developers and publishers

Approximately 7% of the revenue that mobile games are responsible for comes from actually purchasing a game. The so called “freemium” model, whereby games can be acquired for free but additional features must be purchased through small transactions, is the most lucrative model for mobile developers currently. Mobile games have come to represent one of the most lucrative sectors for the game industry as a whole and a growing number of prominent developers and publishers are beginning to take the mobile space more seriously as a result.

Mobile games likely to continue gaining momentum around the world

Mobile games are expected to continue seeing strong growth throughout the world, especially as these games begin making their way to emerging markets in Africa and Asia. China is currently home to one of the most robust mobile gaming markets in the world, with thousands of games being produced on a daily basis throughout the country.

Burst Media has released the results of its annual holiday survey, indicating that consumers are prepped with their smartphones.

The latest annual holiday survey from Burst Media has revealed that consumers are already getting ready to start their shopping during the heaviest season of the year, and that while they plan to head to brick and mortar shopping malls and online shops, alike, they will be using mobile commerce in a number of different ways to help them throughout their purchasing journeys.

This year’s calendar has shaken up the pattern of events when compared to previous recent years.

For instance, this year, Hanukkah will be starting ahead of Thanksgiving, and for the first time since 2008, Cyber Monday will be occurring in December. This could be a defining pattern, particularly when it comes to mobile commerce, as it was barely in existence the last time this happened, so this year will present the first real data regarding what retailers can expect when online shopping kicks off when December has already started, and after Hanukkah is already in full swing.

The survey provided a considerable amount of online and mobile commerce insight for this year’s season.

Among the key findings of the holiday shopping and mobile commerce survey from Burst Media are the following:

• Marketers have time on their sides. Among the respondents of the survey, a large portion (40 percent) begin their holiday shopping following their Thanksgiving celebrations. Only 14.3 percent have already begun, and 11.8 percent started just after Halloween.
• Smartphones and tablets are playing an increasing role in the overall shopping process. Among the respondents, 45.7 percent use smartphones, and 41.3 percent use tablets for online browsing and shopping for holiday gifts and products. This is far greater than last year’s statistics.
• Mobile commerce apps will play an important part in the shopping this season, as 54.6 percent of women and 41.9 percent of men use shopping apps at least somewhat frequently – far more than in 2012.
• Smartphones are helping with shopping in brick and mortar shops, as 40.3 percent of the respondents use their devices while inside the stores to assist in their decision making.
• Parents are using mobile commerce to comparison shop for better prices while inside brick and mortar retail locations. This was the case among 64.5 percent of moms and 63.2 percent of dads.