Mobile Gaming

Abstract

With more than 811 million mobile subscribers as of March 2011 (Sohoni 2011), India not only ranks as the second largest mobile phone customer base in the world after China with 900 million mobile phone subscribers (China Has Over 900 Mobile Users…, 2011) but is believed to have one of the highest penetration of cell phones since they are expected to reach more than 97 per cent of the country’s population of 1.26 billion by 2014 (India’s Cellphone Users… 2011). Moreover, the Indian mobile entertainment industry itself is witnessing a tremendous growth according to the industry specialists who have predicted that the market will reach up to $4.9 billion by 2015 (Srikaparchi 2011). This is a substantial increase from $1.2 billion in 2009, which puts it at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26 per cent in the period 2009–2015. This significant growth of the mobile entertainment industry can be attributed to a number of factors, including the booming economy as a result of the rising middle class, growth of the mobile handset market, localization of entertainment content, rise in the number of service providers and gaming companies as well as foreign collaborations.

The rising middle class is one of the determining factors in the growth of the mobile gaming industry. According to a report of the National Council for Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER) Center for Macro Consumer Research, there will be 267 million middle class people in India by 2015–16, thus providing a great market opportunity for the mobile entertainment industry (Press Trust of India 2011). Moreover, having more than half the population below the age group of 25 is another reason why the gaming industry will flourish in the future as it is the younger generation who is technically savvy and more likely than adults to use mobiles for information and entertainment. With the booming economy, availability of low-priced devices and better network coverage, rural people are also in the market for using cellphones for edutainment purposes.