SPOTLIGHT: More than just a game

As with other sectors of the economy, wireless and mobility have brought soaring profits to the gaming industry. On-portal mobile game revenue jumped 61 percent year-over-year to $151 million in Q4 2006. Research group Telephia reports that nearly 17.4 million mobile consumers downloaded a mobile game last quarter, up an impressive 45 percent from a total of 12 million downloaders a year ago. On-portal mobile game revenues also account for 74 percent of total mobile game revenues, with off-portal downloads accounting for the remaining 26 percent. The research group says that while revenue is growing, revenue growth is slowing consistent with a market that is maturing.