Mobile games only make up a small slice of the Chinese games market. But it's the fastest growing sector with growth during 2012 estimated at 91 percent.
In contrast, the growth rate of the overall games sector, as detailed in the China Game Industry Report 2012, was 35 percent.
In terms of value, it's calculated that the sales of mobile games accounted for RMB 3.2 billion (over $500 million) during the year.
That works out at 5.4 percent of the $9.7 billion (RMB 60 billion) Chinese games market, which is dominated by online games (94.5 percent), with retail console games accounting for a mere 0.1 percent.
Bigger, better
Figures from Beijing-based company iResearch suggest that 2013 will continue that momentum.
It predicts the Chinese mobile games market will be worth around $850 million (around RMB 5.2 billion), up 70 percent compared to 2012.
If fulfilled, this would see China accounting for around 15 percent of the global mobile games market of $5 billion.
Significantly, western-developed games such as Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja dominate its paid charts.
Further estimates suggest that by 2015, China could make up 20 percent of the world market, worth $2.2 billion.
[source: Technode]
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Top Stories
News
2 hours, 53 minutes ago
Stumble Guys dev Kitka Games soft-launches new mobile title Battle Guys: Royale
Feature
3 hours, 33 minutes ago
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
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 |