Consumers Now Spend More on iOS and Android Games Than Dedicated Handheld Games

The App Annie & IDC Portable Gaming Report, a quarterly report that charts mobile application downloads and consumer spend alongside worldwide dedicated handheld gaming packaged software shipments, reveals that combined consumer spending on iOS App Store and Google Play games eclipsed that of dedicated handheld games in Q4.

Dedicated handheld gaming showed particular seasonality; close to 60 percent of Q4 consumer spending on Nintendo and Sony handheld gaming software occurred in December, a significantly higher share than was the case for December iOS App Store or Google Play game spending.

“While the most popular games and their business models are quite distinct, Nintendo and Apple were surprisingly close in terms of aggregate consumer spend on game software in the fourth quarter of 2012,” said Lewis Ward, IDC’s gaming research manager. “Seasonality is more pronounced in the dedicated handheld space and we hope this report series will help clarify the evolution of portable gaming dynamics in 2013 and beyond.”


Check out the charts below or download the full report here.

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