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EA's mobile division continues to outpace handheld in Q2 2013

Nintendo and Sony falling behind

EA's mobile division continues to outpace handheld in Q2 2013
The release of EA's (NASDAQ: ERTS) Q2 2013 financials only revealed a company wide net loss of $381 million, but also the increasing importance of mobile to the publisher.

Numbers from the three month period – which ended on 30 September – pegged net revenue from EA's mobile division at $75 million.

That's up on the $55 million the division generated during the same period last year, but more importantly, it also continues the trend of mobile outperforming handheld.

Mind the gap

EA's efforts on handhelds from Nintendo and Sony – including the DS, 3DS, PSP and PS Vita – generated a total of $22 million during the same period, meaning mobile is bringing in more than three times as much as handheld in terms of sales.

It's also a gap that's growing. During the same period in 2011, handheld generated $24 million in sales – around $30 million down on EA Mobile. There's now a revenue gap of $53 million between the two divisions.

Mobile's increasing prevalence shouldn't come as a surprise, however, with EA having invested heavily in mobile firms in recent years – Chillingo and PopCap two notable buys.

Of the company's wider losses, it's EA's console exploits that are being blamed, with poor reviews for Medal of Honor: Warfighter expected to result in smaller than expected sales. The pressure is on, then, for Need for Speed: Most Wanted to lift the publisher's fortunes across console during the Christmas run in.

Interestingly, however, EA declined to deliver any numbers on its Facebook games, though vowed to "continue to be a player" on the social network in the year ahead.

[source: EA]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.