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Trend: Chinese Mobile Gaming Boom
Written By Daniel Allen on Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 3:42 AM | In Lifestyle, Technology
Trend Description: Mobile Gaming is reaching critical mass in China.
The number of Chinese mobile gaming subscribers reached 15.2 million during 2005 with a market size of RMB 1.44 billion ($178.6 million), and will grow to 19.5 million subscribers with a market size of RMB 2.24 billion ($277.9 million), according to the research firm Analysys International.
The firm predicts that the mobile gaming industry in China will enter a “stable growth period with high profit value.â€
However, the phones themselves have been holding back this growth. While China currently has 390 million mobile phone subscribers, less than a third have phones that support game services.
Analysts believe this will change during the course of the year as more users upgrade to smart phones and network carriers upgrade their networks to third-generation (3G) technology.
Cases:
M-Dream
M-Dream is the top provider of cell phone games on China Mobile’s Treasure Box game portal. China Mobile customers have downloaded more than 400,000 of its games each month. The company also sells games through China Unicom’s Uni-Magic game portal.
In addition, M-Dream acts as a service provider, selling ring tones, cell phone wallpaper, and other content through China Mobile’s Monternet platform.
M-Dream develops its own titles and licenses games from third-party developers. The company creates 15 mobile games each month and has a library of 250 game titles. They include some of the most popular games in China, including Metal Slug and King of Fighter.
Trend impact:
British mobile ring tone and game developer Monstermob acquired M-Dream, for an estimated $30 million to $35 million. Monstermob plans to use M-Dream as a development center for creating new mobile phone games. Monstermob, based in Lancashire, made another acquisition last August of the Chinese mobile entertainment developer ATOP Century.
Links:
TrendManager
Philippe Souidi, Munich
TrendScout
Corne Zandbergen, Beijing
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