European mobile gaming to hit $7bn by 2006

Fuelled by the increasing market penetration of advanced handsets, revenues for European mobile gaming will leap from $800m last year to $7bn in 2006.

Analyst Frost & Sullivan said that the media gaming sector - games for mobile consoles delivered typically through physical media - accounted for nearly two-thirds of total sales in 2002.

But it said that Java gaming will inject new vigour into the over-the-air (OTA) sector from 2003 onwards, made up of games delivered to phones over wireless wide area networks.

By the end of the forecast period in 2006, mobile gaming is expected to represent around five per cent of operators' wireless data revenues - 30 per cent of total video gaming revenue.

Half of devices sold in 2003 are expected to be download-enabled, while all operators have invested in offering gaming and other content services.

Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Jan ten Sythoff said: "Operators have also set up revenue share agreements such that games developers and publishers have a solid business model, and are therefore motivated to continue developing quality games."