China Mobile sees major progress in mobile games
Mobile games continue to generate a great deal f attention in China. This week, China Mobile, one of the country’s largest telecommunications companies, announced that 25% of the applications downloaded from its Mobile Market app store were games. Moreover, these mobile games account for the vast majority of the revenue generated from all of the applications found on the company’s Mobile Market. This makes the mobile games sector the most lucrative sector in the mobile space, at least in China.
Majority of revenue in app market comes from games
According to China Mobile, mobile games represent 87.5% of total revenue earned by the Mobile Market. These games are rampantly popular among Chinese consumers, many of whom use them for entertainment purposes or, quite simply, to pass the time. China Mobile notes that the number of people willing to pay for mobile games is significantly higher than those willing to pay for games on other platforms. Up to 30% of mobile consumers, for instance, have paid or are willing to pay for mobile games of some kind, whereas 1-2% of consumers are willing to pay for PC games.
In-app purchases are becoming more common
China Mobile also notes that consumers are willing to have the fees tied to their mobile games included in their regular phone bill, with approximately 70% of mobile gamers favoring this practice. In-app purchases have also become the stable of the mobile games sector in China, with 90% of all games in the Mobile Market offering some form of in-app purchase. China Mobile expects that in-app purchases will eventually replace the pay-to-download model that has long dominated the applications market, leading most, if not all, mobile games to be free.
China sees economic growth in games
Mobile games have become a strong force in the Chinese economy. For several years, China’s game industry has been somewhat isolated, largely restricted to the borders of its native country. Despite this, the industry has become very affluent in the economy by providing consumers with countless hours of entertainment.
Flurry highlights the time investment consumers devote to mobile games and social networking
Flurry, a mobile startup that offers analytic reports concerning the mobile space, has released a new report concerning how mobile consumers use their time. Smartphones and tablets have become a very important part of the lives of millions of people all over the world. These devices are regularly used to interact with contacts, shop, watch movies, and play games and offer consumers nearly endless access to the Internet and all the resources therein. Flurry notes that there are three main activities wherein Android and iOS users spend the majority of their time.
Consumers spend most of their time in apps, specifically Facebook
According to the firm, Android and iOS users spend an average of 2 hours and 38 minutes every day on mobile applications. Approximately 80% of this time is spent within an application itself, 32% of this time is spent on mobile games, and 20% is spent by browsing the Internet. Social networking accounts for the majority of the time consumers spend on their smartphones and tablets, with Flurry’s report showing that much of this time is devoted to Facebook.
Mobile games account for large portion of time spend on mobile devices
Mobile games take up a significant portion of consumers’ time as well, with many investing their time into these games while traveling or waiting for events to begin. Mobile games are the primary form of entertainment for those on mobile devices, whereas entertainment platforms like YouTube account for significantly less time investment by comparison. Mobile games appear to be so popular because they are easy to pick up and play and most are free.
Facebook may find success through engaging consumers with mobile games
Facebook could have a significant opportunity due to how much time mobile consumers invest on the platform. The social network already boasts of 680 million mobile users accessing it every month. If Facebook can find a way to engage these people more effectively, it may be able to significantly eclipse other social networks, like Twitter and Pintrest. Mobile games may be an adequate way to accomplish this task, as consumers have already shown their willingness to play these games, especially through Facebook, which boasts of a substantial social gaming network.
