Mobile gaming to be 4.4% of wireless data by 2009

With good momentum already in the United States and worldwide, In-Stat/MDR believes that mobile gaming, while remaining a niche market, will continue to change to be a key contributor to wireless data usage and revenues. The high-tech market research firm estimates that by 2009, mobile gaming services in the United States will generate $1.8 billion annually, or approximately 4.4% of total wireless data revenues. Additionally, by 2009, 78.6 million wireless subscribers in the United States will play mobile games, and gaming downloads will increase more than tenfold from 2003 levels.

"Mobile gaming has come a long way since 'Snake' was first deployed on wireless handsets in 1997," said In-Stat/MDR's director of wireless research, Clint Wheelock. In-Stat/MDR's recent Consumer Mobility Study revealed that, at present, 6.5% of U.S. wireless subscribers are extremely or very interested in purchasing mobile gaming services. According to Wheelock, "This level of interest clearly identifies mobile gaming as a niche opportunity for wireless carriers, application developers and content producers."

In-Stat/MDR also found that:

Unlike with other emerging mobile multimedia services, such as video and music, consumers interested in mobile gaming do not necessarily match the classic early adopter profile.

Consumers interested in mobile gaming are likely to already be wireless data users that own handsets with color displays, camera-phone functionality, and multimedia capabilities. On average, they are younger and more likely to be male than the general wireless subscriber base.

Mobile gaming users already play games an average of 5.1 hours per week on various devices in the home, including PCs, game consoles and handhelds (versus 2.9 hours per week for all wireless users.)

The most popular mobile gaming genre is single-player board, puzzle and word games.

The report, "Mobile Gaming Services in the U.S., 2004-2009" (#IN0401659MCD), costs US$2995, and includes survey results and analysis from In-Stat/MDR's Consumer Mobility Study, including willingness to purchase mobile gaming services, as well as preferences for specific gaming genres. The analysis includes detailed demographic and behavioral profiles of mobile gaming intenders. The report also analyzes trends in mobile game content development, as well as key elements of the gaming user experience. An in-depth investigation of emerging technology trends is also provided, including: user interfaces and handset form factors, gaming-centric devices such as N-Gage, multiplayer capabilities, location-based gaming, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi integration, 3D graphics and removable media.