By the end of 2013, the number of paying players on mobile and tablet devices will surpass the number of paying players on dedicated gaming handhelds.
That's according to a forecast from the International Data Corporation, which predicts a steady rise in the number of paying mobile gamers over the next five years.
The number of handheld consoles shipped, meanwhile, will fall at an average of nearly 7 percent per year across the same period, according to the IDC's report.
However, the IDC expects handheld consoles such as the 3DS and Vita to lead in terms of average revenue per user through 2017.
The handover
"In order for Nintendo's and Sony's gaming-optimised handhelds to remain ahead of smartphones and tablets on key metrics such as ARPU, these companies and their game card developer and publisher partners will have to redouble their efforts in a number of respects," explained Lewis Ward, IDC research manager and author of its latest report.
"Digital distribution has reached an inflection point in mobile and portable gaming, and future success will largely boil down to finding a unique balance of freemium business model excellence and that ability to deliver compelling social experiences."
IDC's take comes after Juniper predicted that the number of games downloaded across mobile and tablet will triple by 2017, thanks to cloud-based games taking pride of place on portable devices.
The full report Worldwide Gaming-Optimized Handheld, Smartphone, and Tablet Gaming 20132017 Forecast is available from the IDC website.
Data & Research
Related Articles
as
News
Dec 20th, 2016
China's mobile eSports industry expected to generate $2.6 billion in revenue in 2016
News
Oct 30th, 2014
Smartphone wars: Samsung and Apple lead the way but Xiaomi, Lenovo and LG are catching up
Top Stories
Feature
4 hours, 4 minutes ago
Hot Five: AppLovin revenue surges 48% Y/Y, Plarium and Big Fish up for sale, and a look inside Merge Mansion's growth
Feature
5 hours, 52 minutes ago
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
For The Win 2024 | Europe | May 29th |
Popular Stories
Feature
5 hours, 52 minutes ago
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 14th, 2024
Matej Lančarič's Squad Busters deep dive: Under the skin of 2024's biggest launch yet
Interview
May 15th, 2024