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Mobile Gaming Europe 2012: Holiday power week could see 2 billion apps downloaded says Flurry

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Mobile Gaming Europe 2012: Holiday power week could see 2 billion apps downloaded says Flurry
With the end of 2012 rapidly approaching, developers are preparing for their final releases of the year.

They're looking, hoping and praying to get a good launch that will see them rising up the charts just as people are unwrapping shiny new smartphones and tablets, and then looking for apps and games to download and play.

According to Richard Firminger, European MD of mobile analytics and advertising outfit Flurry, the holiday week in 2012 is going to be biggest ever,

Last year, what Flurry called the 'Power Week' between Christmas and New Year saw 1.2 billion app downloads across iOS and Android. Flurry also tracked the activation of 20 million new devices in this period.

As for 2012, Firminger says that given the growth rates in the global market, the similar period will see 2 billion apps and games download.

World of possibilities

Of course, given that Flurry estimates there are 750 million smart devices in operation (it tracked one trillion data points during October 2012), 2 billion downloads is only a couple per device.

Yet such is the competition - both in terms of holiday week activity, and more generally across the app stores - Firminger's advice is that developers actually shouldn't fixate about getting their games to the top of the charts.

At least not unless they're looking to spend heavily on user acquisition; anything from $100,000 to $400,000 and upwards, he suggests is now required.

Looking elsewhere

"The US top 10 is not as important as it used to be," he said, saying that according to Flurry's figures, the top 10 US apps and games account for 29 percent of global sessions.

This is down from 49 percent of all sessions a year ago.

Usage in the rest of world, especially the countries such as China and Russia, continue to grow very quickly, with the number of smart devices in those countries up over 200 percent year-on-year.

These trends means that developers should be looking niche opportunities across many territories, Firminger said.

Of course, he suggests that Flurry can help developers find those audiences too.

It's just dropped the minimum spend through its AppCircle product from 75c per install to 50c per install to encourage them to see how it works, and how Flurry's analytics can help them segment and monetise.
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.