More Evidence of Mobile Gaming on the Rise in Asia
We recently wrote about how app downloads in China have reportedly increased since Apple began accepting local currency payments. Today there’s more evidence of mobile app fever on the Asian continent, most specifically games, as Barron’s is citing the app analytics specialists at App Annie in a report that says both China and Japan are seeing a mobile gaming boom:
"[D]uring the past six months Japan grew 35 percent over the previous six months, and China grew 30 percent, while the U.S. was down because of a shift in iPhone launch (last year’s iPhone launch was in June and this year’s launch was in September) and negative seasonality during the first half of the year."
Other key facts from App Annie include the prediction Japan will account for 20 percent of world-wide app revenue in Apple’s AppStore by the end of the year, more than twice as much as what it was in September. Japan is accustomed to mobile payments and as smartphone adoption continues to grow (with the iPhone now on au in addition to Softbank) the opportunities for gaming companies will only increases.
App Annieがあげる大きな要因には他にも、日本がAppleのアプリケーションストアにおいて世界の売り上げの20％を占めることになるとの予測を示し、すでに9月の段階で2倍超となっている。日本ではモバイルでの支払いも日常的となりスマートフォンを使う場面も増えているため（auとソフトバンクのiPhoneがある）、ゲーム会社のチャンスはますます増えるだろう。
App Annieの記事には、日本は今年の終わりまでにAppStoreの世界中の収益の20%、9月の時点の2倍以上のシェア、を占めるようになるだろう、という予測も含まれていたことも忘れてはならない。日本では携帯決済が一般的であり、スマートフォン普及率がこのまま伸びていく（iPhoneがSoftbankに加えてauでも販売されていることもあり）ため、ゲーム製作会社にとってのチャンスは増える一方であろう。
In fact just yesterday Rovio held an event to announce that it will be bringing Angry Birds to Japan, recognizing the potential of the nation’s mature mobile culture.
Similarly, in addition to China and Japan, Korea shows great potential for mobile games growth as well. The DeNA/Daum partnership that was formally announced yesterday is targeting Korea large number of smartphone subscribers, who still represent a relatively untapped (or lesser tapped?) gaming market in comparison to neighboring Japan.
