PMP Today

Mobile gaming is huge, says a new report. Not as huge as music, or even adult, but with $4.5 billion in expected revenues this year from $3.9 billion last year, it’s definitely on its way up. The report comes from Gartner, Inc and will be of no surprise to industry watchers. The best news is that mobile gaming is not particularly popular yet for general consumers. Consumers from developing countries is key:

“The fact that mobile gaming provides good value for the money is one reason for the healthy growth rate,” said Tuong Huy Nguyen, principal analyst at Gartner. “For a relatively small sum, consumers can enjoy a game over and over again, which is particularly relevant in emerging economies where penetration of consoles and PCs is lower. Video games in their original versions (on PCs or consoles) represent a form of entertainment recognized across a wide population, while portable consoles have also taken the market a step towards gaming on a mobile device. Finally, game publishers and mobile operators are getting better at working together and becoming more active in the mobile gaming space.”

A growth rate of 10.2% is expected until 2011. Madhusudan Gupta, senior analyst at Gartner adds: “Emerging market operators should make the most of the demand for mobile games and the low PC penetration in these regions and push game sales as a viable, albeit imperfect, lower-cost substitute to PC and console games.” Hm, I wonder how high-end portable gaming technology like the NVIDIA Tegra fits in.

[via slashphone]