Gambling The Killer App For Mobile

Published: Friday, May 06, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

GAMBLING THE KILLER APP FOR MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT

$19.3 billion by 2009, predicts Juniper study

Mobile entertainment is going to be huge, and gambling is the engine that will drive it is the finding of a new study from Juniper Research, The research group reports that a rapid expansion in mobile content, allied to a sharp increase in 2.5G and 3G handset adoption, will combine to deliver global mobile entertainment revenues totalling over US$59 billion by 2009.

And while adult content - frequently heralded as mobile's "killer app" - will generate healthy revenues of nearly US$2.2 billion by the end of the decade, the key drivers of mobile content are expected to be gambling and games, with their respective markets worth US$19.3 billion and US$18.5 billion respectively by 2009.

The author of the report, Dr Windsor Holden,says "Lotteries are ubiquitous in many countries, and if you start launching lotteries on mobile handsets then you're tapping into a form of gambling in which the majority of adults indulge on a weekly basis, while sports betting and casinos are also high-revenue businesses."

Dr Holden added that mobile games were also beginning to generate substantial revenues, while sales in emerging markets - with little or no established PC or games console base - were particularly encouraging.

The report estimates that the mobile entertainment market will reach US$17.6 billion in 2005, up by 71 percent on 2004 and that the increasing adoption of non-voice services in the US and Canada will push North American revenues to US$11.3 billion in 2009, up from just over US$1 billion in 2004.