Tag: superdata

Global spending on smartphone apps is about to increase more than it has before.

According to analysts at SuperData Research, by the end of this year, mobile gaming revenues will reach $21.1 billion, which means that compared to 2013’s $17.7 billion mobile games revenue, this will work out to a 19% increase since last year.

Asia mobile users are the major reason behind the growth in this market.

The lead researcher and SuperData founder, Joost van Dreunen, said in the report that “Much of this growth is due to Asia.” Van Dreunen added that Asia “accounts for over half of the worldwide mobile market and its booming smartphone industry as devices become more affordable and ubiquitous in the region.” What has been discovered is that while Western consumers tend to focus on mobile games spending on a per-player basis, the contribution Asian nations like China, South Korea and Japan are making are far bigger.

Based on what was found by SuperData, by the end of the year, Asia’s revenue for mobile gaming will climb to $11.3 billion. This amount includes revenue that results from in-game ads and in-app purchases. Furthermore, the intelligence firm anticipates that by 2016 the global gaming revenue will be at $28.2 billion once more smartphone consumers come online in Russia, India and china.

In the West, mobile gaming spending is growing, but slower than the global average.

The report noted that although spending is increasing in the west, as it is estimated to grow by 16% from last year to 2014, it is growing at a rate that is slower compared to the average worldwide.

That said, Western gamers do spend a lot of money on mobile games. The research from SuperData has shown that the average mobile player who pays for games in the US and the UK, spends much more than other mobile gamers in just about everywhere else in the world. However, the reason why this is believed to be the case is that both the UK and US mobile technology markets are well established and consumers have had a long time to become accustomed to how mobile games operate.

Nevertheless, in every region the mobile games market is growing. Therefore, if in the next few years, revenue does reach almost $30 billion, the companies who establish a presence in the mobile gaming space now are likely to be glad that they did.

New research estimates China’s mobile games market to make billions.

According to SuperData Research, the leading provider of digital games market intelligence, in 2014, the mobile games market in China is anticipated to break the $3 billion mark, which could result in the country becoming the leading market in the mobile gaming sector, bumping the U.S. out of the top spot.

The United States and China are the two largest players in the mobile games industry.

SuperData CEO Joost Van Dreunen said that while it is no surprise that these two countries are the biggest players in the market, “what is surprising is the rate at which China has caught up with especially large Western mobile game markets.” Dreunen has said that this is very exciting news for publishers, as the growth of the Chinese games market is not unlike the one the U.S. market experienced a few years back. The difference, however, is that China’s growth has greater potential for a larger audience.

The Super Data CEO stated that the United States gaming market is going through a transition. Instead of a game industry that has been physically retail-based, its focus is becoming much more digital. “Publishers must tailor their games to suit local markets,” Dreunen said. He added that “what works well in the US may not work well in China, and vice versa.” What is becoming more important in the games industry is process of localization, which has a direct impact on a game’s ability to convince players to buy.

SuperData’s 2014 Mobile Games Brief of China and the U.S., predicts that the global games market will exceed $20 billion by the end of the year.

The Chinese mobile gaming space is attracting investors.

According to Lisa Cosmas Hanson, the managing partner at research firm Niko Partners, the mobile games space in China is being embraced by investors. However, despite this fact, the recent report released by Niko Partners estimates that by 2018, the country’s PC online gaming market is likely to double.

Dreunen notes that like most Asian markets (with Japan being the exception), China does not have a very big market for physical retail games. Although it is probable that video game consoles will grow in popularity, as it is now legal to buy these devices, consoles like Xbox One are likely to face stiff competition in China where PC and mobile gaming remain dominant.