Jupiter Predicts Portable Games Boom
May 13 2004
Portable gaming is set for rapid growth over the next few years, fuelled by competition, according to a new report from JupiterResearch. Revenue for the sector is forecast to grow from $1.6 billion in 2003 to $2.7 billion in 2009, while the audience almost doubles from 23 million to 43 million.
'Portable Games Devices - Forecasting Growth in Anticipation of Intensifying Competition' uses a definition including four categories of portable games:
- users of dedicated game devices such as Nintendo's GameBoy
- users of Hybrid game devices such as Nokia's N-Gage or Tapwave's Zodiac
- gamers that play more than five hours per week on their PDAs
- gamers that play more than five hours per week on their cellular phones.
The last of these is expected to grow faster than the sector as a whole, at an average annual rate of 16% through 2009, fuelled by the proliferation of phones more better equipped for gaming.
'Competition is the major driver of growth over the next five years. As device manufacturers and content developers cater to broader audiences, we will see some amazing things happen', according to Vice President and Research Director Michael Gartenberg. 'There's a gap in ownership between console and handheld devices allowing for an untapped market as well as substantial opportunities in age brackets from the upper teens to 34 years of age, both male and female'.
More information on the report and on JupiterResearch's PC and Console Games research service can be found at
www.jupiterresearch.com , or via Kieran Kelly at
researchsales@jupitermedia.com
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
