According to Juniper Research, mobile game revenues over the next few years will explode in North America, reaching $3 billion by 2012.
The analysts at U.K.-based Juniper Research have issued a new report on the mobile games market in North America, predicting that revenues will jump from less than $800 million in 2007 to more than $3 billion by 2012.
Juniper said that currently 18 million Americans download or rent mobile games at least once per year, but that figure should "increase sharply" during the next five years as user interfaces improve and more all-you-can-eat data packages and free trial periods for subscription-based games are introduced.
"This 'try before you buy' strategy not only makes the customer more comfortable about purchasing a particular title: it also makes him or her more familiar with mobile gameplay per se and will provide further encouragement for the consumer to seek out additional titles in the future," noted report author Dr Windsor Holden.
Advertising will also play a key role, as ad-funded mobile games in North America are expected to reach 30 percent by 2012. As mobile game penetration in North America rises, however, consumers can expect prices to go up, mostly due to "increasing sophistication of high-end games combined with improved form factor in handsets," Juniper said. Even with continued growth in North America, the mobile games market here is expected to continue to trail both the China/Far East region and Western Europe over the next five years.
Juniper suggests that poor marketing of mobile titles is currently one of the big problems for publishers, since many customers are frequently unaware of new releases. Juniper also "recommends that publishers focus on enhancing their portfolios of 'lifestyle games' as a means of expanding the mobile gaming demographic."
via GameDaily
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