The market researchers at DFC Intelligence have issued a series of new reports on the worldwide market for mobile and portable games, suggesting that the global market will reach $11.7 billion by 2014. DFC said that Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch platforms will account for the majority of this growth. In fact, by 2014 sales for games on the iPhone/iPod Touch are expected to comprise 24% of all portable game software sales, including PSP and DS.
"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. The platforms from Apple are expected to be responsible for the bulk of market growth over the next few years," commented DFC analyst David Cole.
Looking specifically at the mobile games market, DFC also surveyed the mobile game habits of over 8,000 game players in North America and Europe. Mobile gaming is definitely on the rise, as 54% of respondents in North America and 69% of respondents in Europe had played a game on their mobile phone in the past year, while 45% of respondents in North America and 36% in Europe had paid to purchase an application for their mobile phone. Not surprisingly, the App Store was found to be the most popular service for making purchases. About 15% of respondents in both North America and Europe said they own an iPhone or iPod Touch, compared with 29% that have a Nintendo DS.
Apple has sold over 20 million iPhones in fiscal 2009. With the new 3GS on the market and Apple likely to expand to carriers beyond AT&T, there's no sign of a slowdown for the iPhone, and it seems like game developers keep flocking to platform.
