1）据insidemobileapps报道，Facebook在2011年已助其平台开发商创收14亿美元，而苹果在2011年第四季度向iOS应用开发者支付收益约7亿美元。

facebook-apple(from mashable.com)

观察者称，根据苹果上周宣布App Store至今已向开发者支付40亿美元（苹果在iPad 2发布时宣布其应用商店已助开发者创收20亿美元）的情况来估算，苹果在2011年可能已助开发者创收20亿美元以上。

Facebook在上一季度通过其支付服务创收1.88亿美元，根据其30%抽成来看，Facebook在假期季向开发者支付的收益为4.38亿美元，仅相当于苹果开发者第四季度所获收益的62%左右。

这表明iOS平台的每用户价值超过了Facebook，因为Facebook平台的MAU已达8.45亿，而苹果iOS设备的销量则是3.15亿（游戏邦注：这里还未考虑有些用户同时拥有多部iOS设备，或者更换新一代iPhone/iPad的情况）。

2）EA最近公布的第三财季报告显示，该季度EA移动业务收益增长19%，共达7000万美元，超过上年同期的5900万美元。智能手机与功能性手机业务收益相当，但前者收益同比上年增长70%。EA指出免费增值模式的手机游戏贡献突出，在2011年12月份，公司占据10.5%的iOS游戏市场份额，在Android平台的游戏盈利性也出现增长趋势。

EA digital revenue(from EA)

worldwide digital segment(from EA)

platform net revenue(from EA)

旗下公司PopCap表现超出预期，其营收同比增长30%，而EA在任天堂DS平台的业务收益为1500万美元，同比上年的4900万美元下降了69%，在索尼PSP平台收益为1400万美元，同比上年下滑36%。

从总体上看，EA移动和手持设备业务收益同比下降24%，共达9900万美元；基于非GAAP的EA数字游戏收益同比增长79%，超过了10亿美元，但主要的数字收益来自EA原有IP产品，而非PopCap、Playfish等旗下公司产品。基于GAAP的无线、广告、数字发行渠道和其他网络来源的收益为1.03亿美元，超过去年同期的1600万美元。

3）Gameloft近日公布的2011年第四季度财报显示，该时期公司智能手机及平板电脑业务收益同比增长64%，达到2540万美元，占公司该季度总收益的41%（游戏邦注：Gameloft该季度总收益为4700万欧元，约合6200万美元）。

Gameloft revenue(from insidemobileapps)

Gameloft指出公司去年销售额达1.644亿欧元（约合2.17亿美元），同比上年增长17%。

欧洲市场占其销售额的30%，北美市场占比29%，其他地区占比41%。

4）Zynga新游戏《Dream PetHouse》终于在加拿大App Store结束测试，并即将正式上线，该游戏由Zynga纽约工作室开发，玩家在其中任务是为各种宠物住户建设树屋。

Dream PetHouse(from games)

游戏中出现的宠物类型具有随机性，玩家若想得到某种宠物，必须在大树上多建房屋以便扩大其出现概率。据观察者所称，该游戏机制与另一家公司Tecmo Koei旗下的游戏《Jollywood》极为相似，但Zynga也已经通过博客间接声明“我们清楚自己并非首家开发树屋游戏的公司，当然也并不是第一家采用宠物题材的公司，我们向那些领先者致敬，但《Dream PetHouse》的主题更具趣味性和创造性”。

5）据gamezebo报道，EA计划在2月底前将去年12月发布的iOS游戏《Sims FreePlay》推向Android平台。

Sims FreePlay(from itunes.apple.com)

这款结合了《模拟人生社交版》元素的游戏将保留其iOS版本的设置和内容，它含有一个经验值系统，只有晋升到一定等级的玩家才能解琐商店中的相关道具并购买物品，此外还有一个“等待游戏”机制，要求玩家付费以继续体验游戏，或者等待数分钟甚至数小时后再度完成任务。

6）分析公司Localytics最新数据表明，Android平台分裂性问题并不是太严重。

Localytics发现，73%采用其分析服务的Android应用程序运行于同个版本的操作系统，也就是Android 2.3（Gingerbread）。22%应用运行于Android 2.2平台，由此可以看出，Android开发者只需重点关注这两个操作系统版本就有望让应用与95%的Android平台兼容性。

而谷歌最近的数据则显示，54.9%的Android移动设备运行的是Android 2.3操作系统。

Localytics还发现，41%应用运行于4.3英寸屏幕的移动设备，运行于4英寸设备的比例为22%，3.2英寸占比11%，3.7英寸占比9%。

localytics_popular_android_design(from techdiem.com)

62%应用运行于800 X 480像素的手机设备，14%运行于480 X 320像素的设备，6%运行于960 X 540像素的设备，5%运行于480 X 854像素的设备，5%运行于320 X 240像素的设备。

从平板电脑来看，74%应用运行于1024 X 600像素、7英寸屏幕的设备，22%运行于1280 X 800像素、10.1英寸的平板电脑。

android-tablet-average-specs(from localytics)

71%的Android平板电脑采用Android 2.3版本，14%采用Android 3.2，7%采用Android 3.1，其余采用Froyo版本。

7）inneractive最近发布的移动广告信息图表显示，在过去12个月中，inneractive平台的移动广告点击率增幅达711%，广告请求也增长了698%，广告收益增长522%；来自iOS平台的广告请求增长981%，Android平台广告请求增长759%，黑莓平台增长265%，诺基亚平台增长423%。

mobile-ads-barcelona(from inneractive)

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Facebook’s platform paid out $1.4 billion to developers in 2011 — less than what Apple did

Kim-Mai Cutler

Facebook said it paid out $1.4 billion to developers through payments on its platform in 2011. Apple paid out half that much to iPhone, iPod and iPad developers last quarter.

Apple said it paid $700 million to iOS developers in the holiday quarter during its earnings call last week. While we can’t be exactly sure of how much it paid in all of 2011, the company did say last week that it had paid out $4 billion over the lifetime of the app store, up from the $2 billion cumulative figure it shared less than a year earlier during March’s iPad 2 launch. While the dates of these milestones are probably slightly off, it suggests that Apple paid more than $2 billion to developers last year.

The other thing to consider is that Facebook only made Credits mandatory for canvas games in July, so Facebook’s numbers for the first half of the year don’t reflect the full earnings power of the platform. Since Facebook earned $188 million in payments revenue last quarter, that implies that it paid around $438 million out to developers in the holiday quarter based on its 30 percent revenue share. That’s about 62 percent of what Apple paid developers in the fourth quarter.

What this all means is that Apple’s iOS platform outperforms Facebook on a per-user basis for developers. Consider that Facebook has 845 million monthly active users while Apple has sold 315 million iOS devices (which doesn’t account for users who have more than one iOS device or who upgraded to newer iPhone or iPads).（source:insidemobileapps）

2）Electronic Arts’ mobile revenue climbs 19% to $70 million in holiday quarter

Kathleen De Vere

Electronic Arts’ mobile revenues climbed 19 percent to $70 million in company’s third quarter, up from $59 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Smartphone and feature phone revenues were about equal, with smartphone revenues up 70 percent year-over-year. EA highlighted the growth of its freemium mobile games, pointing out that in December, the company’s games had a 10.5 percent market share on iOS devices and monetization had improved on Android.

EA added that PopCap had exceeded market expectations and had grown revenue by more than 30 percent on a trailing 12-month basis. While EA’s mobile revenues were up 19 percent year-over-year, the company’s handheld revenues dropped significantly. Revenue from Nintendo’s DS platform were $15 million, a 69 percent drop from $49 million year-over-year and revenues from Sony’s PSP were $14 million, a 36 percent drop over the same quarter a year earlier.

During the call, EA’s CEO John Riccitiello said the company is focused on extending its major brands  into what he called “year-round franchises” with both mobile and social tie-ins, following the approach the company has taken with FIFA and Battlefield.

Overall, the company’s total revenue from mobile and handhelds was down 24 percent year-on-year, dropping to $99 million. EA’s non-GAAP digital revenue grew by 79 percent year-over-year, growing to over a billion dollars over the past 12 months, an increase the company credited to strong growth in subscriptions, microtransactions and advertising, although later in the call EA revealed the majority of the company’s digital revenue was generated by EA’s own IP, and not offerings from PopCap and Playfish. GAAP net revenue from wireless, advertising, digital distribution and other internet sources was $103 million, up from $16 million at the same time last year.（source:insidemobileapps）

3)Gameloft’s smartphone, tablet revenues climb 64 percent to $25.4M in fourth quarter

Kim-Mai Cutler

Gameloft said its revenues on smartphones and tablets climbed 64 percent year-over-year to $25.4 million in the fourth quarter. They made up 41 percent of the Paris-based company’s 47 million euros ($62 million) in quarterly revenue — underscoring how iOS and Android can now support mobile gaming businesses with around a $100 million annualized revenue runrate.

Gameloft pointed to Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation, Gangstar Rio: City of Saints, Six-Guns and Dungeon Hunter 3 as the key games that supported its business through the holiday quarter.

For all of last year, Gameloft’s sales came in at 164.4 million euros ($217 million), up 17 percent from a year earlier.

Europe made up 30 percent of sales, while North America came in at 29 percent. The rest of the world brought in 41 percent of revenues. Gameloft shares 1.51 percent to 5.23 euros, giving the company a market capitalization of 396.43 million euros ($523.2 million). Shares have climbed 10.1 percent since last year.

For more color on Gameloft’s strategy, we did an interview a few weeks ago with the company’s senior vice president of marketing and sales Gonzague de Vallois. He said Gameloft is planning to launch its own mobile-social gaming network in the first half of this year.（source:insidemobileapps）

4）Zynga has a Dream … PetHouse available now on iPhone and iPad

by Joe Osborne

After a test run on the Canadian App Store that sparked a week of colorful headlines, Zynga has finally launched Dream PetHouse for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. This tree house simulator was developed by Zynga New York, and like all Zynga games, Dream PetHouse is free to play. Players build and grow a massive tree house filled with various pets that grow from babies to adults.

In order to find new pets, players must continually build rooms in their tree house that are filled with new baby pets by storks. What pets you get are randomly chosen by the game, so you’re encouraged to build more rooms if you don’t receive the type of pet you wanted. To capture your pets’ cutest moments (i.e. being babies), you can relive those memories through an in-game photo album.

When we first saw Dream PetHouse in its testing phase, we noted striking similarities to Tecmo Koei’s Jollywood. And Zynga was keen to address those, if indirectly. “We know we are not the first company to create a game with a treehouse,” Zynga’s blog announcement reads, “and certainly not the first with a pet theme – we tip our hats to those who came before us and while we think they are the cat’s meow, we feel deeply that Dream PetHouse moves these themes forward in fun and innovative ways.”

Zynga expects to Dream PetHouse to launch on the App Store later today. As of this writing, the game is not yet available, but here’s the download link for when that happens:（source:games）

5）The Sims FreePlay coming to Android this month

by Brandy Shaul

Released last December on iPhone and iPad, EA’s the Sims FreePlay will soon also be available for Android gamers. As reported by Gamezebo, EA hopes to make the game available on the Android Market before the end of February.

For those unfamiliar with the game, it combines some of the “freemium” elements from the Sims Social on Facebook with the in-depth life simulation features of the popular download titles. These free-to-play elements include an experience point system which ensures that some items in the store remain locked until you’ve leveled up to purchase them, and the “waiting game” mechanic, that forces you to either pay premium currency to continue playing, or wait a few minutes or even hours for your Sim to complete an action before you can continue on for free.

The Sims FreePlay on Android will apparently retain everything from the iOS version (which is a good thing), as no mention was made to the contrary. Make sure to keep an eye on the Android Market throughout the month for your chance to “Play with Life” for free on your Android device.（source:games）  http://blog.games.com/2012/02/01/the-sims-freeplay-android/

6）Localytics reckons Android is less fragmented than you’d think; 73% of handsets run Gingerbread

by Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman

According to analytics firm Localytics’ new study, Android developers shouldn’t really be that worried about fragmentation.

The study shows that device form factors and OS builds are pretty concurrent throughout the Android user base.

In fact, Localytics believes that 73 percent of the apps using its analytics package run on the same OS version, namely Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

A further 22 percent of apps run across Android 2.2 (Froyo), leading Localytics to state that “between the two, Android developers can be confident that they only need to actively target two Android OS builds in order to achieve 96 percent compatibility with the Android ecosystem.”

According to Google’s most recent figures, 54.9 percent of Android devices are running Android 2.3.

Size matters

In terms of form factor the study also found that 41 percent of apps ran across devices packing 4.3-inch screens, while 4-inch screens accounted for 22 percent of the userbase, followed by 3.2-inch (11 percent) and 3.7-inch (9 percent).

Screen resolution was slightly less fragmented.

62 percent of the study’s sessions came through 800 x 480 pixels handsets. Following that were screens in 480 x 320 (14 percent), 960 x 540 (6 percent), 480 x 854 (5 percent) and 320 x 240 resolutions (5 percent).

“For both screen size and resolution, Android developers have more to deal with than iOS developers, thanks to Apple’s single handset form factor,” admitted the report.

“However, with five options accounting for more than 90 percent of all Android app usage, the fragmentation is not particularly daunting.”

No big lOSs

Tablets were also considered in the study, with 7-inch, 1024 x 600 resolution devices powering 74 percent of sessions and 10.1-inch devices with 1280 x 800 resolutions powering another 22 percent.

OS usage is split similarly to handsets, with 71 percent of Android tablets running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Android (Honeycomb) variations 3.2 (14 percent) and 3.1 (7 percent) follow, with Froyo making up the numbers.

“In all, while Android developers do have to think about an element of fragmentation foreign to iOS developers, the problem seems to be much smaller than made out to be,” argues the report.（source:pocketgamer）

7）Infographic: Mobile ads show staggering growth, clicks up 711 percent

By Kevin C. Tofel

This month marks the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) event in Barcelona; the premiere mobile phone trade show in the world. How has the mobile ad market done since last year’s MWC? Mobile app monetization exchange inneractive put together this smart-looking infographic that shows staggering growth.

In just a 12-month span, inneractive has seen more than 700 percent jump in clicks and nearly the same in ad requests. If advertisers are still doubting the growth opportunity in mobile, this pretty picture ought to spell it out for them.（source:gigaom）