It's no secret that China's mobile gaming market is exploding right now, but new research from SuperData shows that it's expected to overtake the $3.2 billion US market soon.

Although described as "stagnating" by SuperData, the average return per paying user (ARPPU) in the United States was higher than $21 during Q1 2014, increasing 11 percent year-on-year.

This would be a good sign for the US's growth, but the rate of conversion from non-paying to paying user dipped 4 percent in the same time period.

In China, conversely, both conversion and ARPPU jumped by a factor of 21 percent year-on-year.

Growing pains

The Chinese mobile games sector also showed some growing pains as it matured into a lucrative, $3 billion market.

Costs for Q1 2014 marketing doubled in China compared to Q1 2013, while marketing costs for the same time period only increased 36 percent in the United States.

It's worth noting, however, that China is a vastly different mobile market field than the United States, as Apple is not the dominant player.

Instead, Android commands much of the market - although developers and publishers must find their audience across numerous, local app stores and distribution channels as Google Play is effectively banned. 

[source: SuperData]