Andre Yoskowitz
26 Oct 2009 13:53
According to new research from firm DFC Intelligence, games for the iPhone/iPod Touch will take a large 25 percent of the portable gaming market in 5 years as the Nintendo and Sony handhelds have nearly reached full saturation point.
Overall, the firm believes the total market will grow to about $11.7 billion in sales by 2014.
"The dedicated portable game systems from companies like Nintendo and Sony are still expected to lead the market, but it appears growth for these devices has peaked," says analyst David Cole, via GI.biz. "The platforms from Apple are expected to be responsible for the bulk of market growth over the next few years."
8000 people were surveyed in the US and the EU, and about 60 percent responded that they had played games on their mobile phones in the last year with 40 percent of those saying they had paid for an application. The Apple App Store was the number one service named for purchases.
About 30 percent owned a DS/DSi while 15 percent owned one of the two Apple products.
"With the iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple has finally delivered mobile developers a platform with an attractive business model and a rapidly growing installed base of active consumers," added Michel Kripalani, president of Oceanhouse Media.