Game sales on smartphone platforms naturally dominate the headlines, but if stats released by BuzzCity are anything to go by, there's plenty of money to be made in Java yet.

That's largely because BuzzCity's Djuzz platform delivers games predominantly to emerging markets, most of which are still adverse to the rise of smartphones.

As a result, 2010 has proved to be something of a bumper year for the firm, with the company reporting it delivered almost 50 million games to consumers in various markets throughout the globe.

Download derby

Downloads in December alone were up 18 percent to 9 million, with 12,000 unique daily visitors – a rise of 9 percent from November – having been registered.

On average, each visit gto Djuzz enerates at least four downloads.

"Mobile gaming is going from strength to strength," said BuzzCity CEO Dr. KF Lai.

"We expect 2011 to be an exciting time for the mobile gaming community – from developers through to brands who use games to reach their audiences."

Going west

Given the nature of the games, it's no surprise that Nokia is the dominant platform on Djuzz – 15 of the top 20 devices in 2010 manufactured by the Finish giant, accounting for 49 percent of all downloads.

But while BuzzCity acknowledges its base is in emerging markets – Lai last month noting Africa was proving to be a particularly lucrative territory for Djuzz – the firm also claims its presence in western markets such as the US and UK is also growing.

BlackBerry games – made available in May – proved particularly popular, the firm claims, helping expand its operations in such markets, although four of its five biggest territories remain Indonesia, India, South Africa and Nigeria.