Seamus McAteer, senior analyst for M:Metrics, has outlined why he thinks women are the driving force behind growth in the mobile content industry. “The number of females consuming ringtones and games grew by 27 percent and 21 percent, respectively, year over year. Corresponding numbers for males were growth of 15.4 percent in males downloading ringtones and a decline of 11.3 percent in the number of males downloading games. Females now account for a clear majority, or 55 percent, of ringtone purchasers. While males still have a higher propensity to download games, the ratio of male to female game downloaders has dropped from 61 percent male in 2005 to 54 percent male in 2006.”
Apparently while the number of people actively downloading games in any given month remained flat, “the number of people reportedly playing a downloaded title in a month expanded by about 15 percent. Higher prices for games and an expanded number of active game subscriptions yield a market that has expanded by about 30 percent in terms of revenue year over year.”
The age of people buying games is also getting older… “While starting from a smaller base, the 35-to-44-year-old segment has had the highest growth for games and ringtones. Consumption among teens has lagged, with the number of teen ringtone purchasers remaining relatively flat, while teens engaged in downloading games fell by a whopping 30 percent.”