1）Mozilla公司日前宣布将于下周向开发者推出HTML5应用商店Mozilla Marketplace，并将于今年内向用户开放服务。

该应用商店主要锁定基于HTML5、JavaScript和CSS等开放网页技术的应用，同时还创建了一个与用户而非特定移动设备或平台绑定的身份系统。

2）据China Times报道，亚马逊准备推出10英寸平板电脑，其设备制造商是富士康，新款Kindle Fire或将于5、6月份问世。

IHS iSuppli曾在2011年10月份报告指出，亚马逊每售一部Kindle Fire就要倒贴11美元，但该公司可通过其在线服务和亚马逊Appstore实现盈利。

3）据gamezebo报道，Halfbrick旗下热门游戏《水果忍者》（游戏邦注：下载量已超过1.3亿次）将推出包括钥匙扣、贴纸、毛绒玩具、桌游、水果零食、手机套和内衣等一系列周边产品。这些商品预计于本周上架，并将在今年陆续推出新产品。

据称芬兰开发商Rovio已通过《愤怒的小鸟》周边产品在2010年创收1000万美元，2011年则增长至1亿美元。

4）据techcrunch报道，俄罗斯工作室ZeptoLab日前宣布将发布《割绳子》Mac版本（该游戏手机版本下载量已突破1亿次），据该公司创始人所称，他们认为Mac App Store市场覆盖率不及手机版 App Store，其市场竞争也不如后者激烈，因此拥有较多发展机遇。尽管《愤怒的小鸟》、《植物大战僵尸》已经登陆Mac平台，但《水果忍者》、《Words With Friends》和《Where’s My Water》等游戏仍未入驻该平台。

5）俄罗斯游戏发行商Game Insight日前宣布成立一个新美国工作室，将总部设于旧金山，以便通过北美开发团队扩展全球业务。

该公司由Alisa Chumachenko成立于2009年，目前已有14家开发工作室和260多名员工，已向Facebook、Orkut、iOS和Android平台发布24款社交游戏，代表作包括Android游戏《My Country》和《Paradise Island》。

6）开发商Jagex首席执行官Mark Gerhard最近公开表示，他认为移动领域的泡沫将在今年爆破，开发者根本无法从中盈利，只有苹果和用户才是市场赢家。

他称开发一款高质量的iOS游戏会面临入不敷出的情况，例如Jagex旗下四款位居iPhone榜单前列的游戏每月仅创收3000或4000英磅。在他看来，苹果固件升级（例如iPhone 5和iPad 3）只会恶化这种情况，并最终“搞垮整个App Store”。

7）insidemobileapps总结的2011年已上市主流手机游戏公司财报内容显示：

Glu Mobile第四季度智能手机业务收益为1010万美元，比去年同期增加3倍；其2011年智能手机业务总收益为3510万美元，同比上年增长3倍以上（2010年收益为987万美元）；该公司目前市值为2.395亿美元。

Capcom第四季度智能手机及社交游戏业务收益为1780万美元，2011年该业务总收益为7070万美元，公司目前市值为14.2亿美元，低于原来的18.2亿美元。

Gamevil第四季度智能手机业务收益达1280万美元，比上年同期增加5倍以上，该业务2011全年收益达2770万美元，公司市值为3.579亿美元，低于之前的3.78亿美元。

EA第四季度手机业务（包括智能手机）收益为7000万美元，同比上年增长19%，全年手机业务收益达2.52亿美元，公司市值为57亿美元，低于原先的76亿美元。

Gameloft第四季度总体&智能手机业务收益为4700万欧元（约6220万美元），同比上年增长64%（游戏邦注：据称其智能手机、平板电脑业务销售额占比41%），全年智能手机业务收益达7430万美元，市值达5.146亿美元，高于之前的4.21亿美元。

Zynga并未区分手机游戏收益，全年总体收益达11.4亿美元，市值为91.1亿美元。

DeNA该季度净销售额同比增长16%，达到342亿日元（4.48亿美元），净收益下滑25%，达60.8亿日元（7920万美元），全年净销售额为17亿美元；市值为47.3亿美元，低于之前的52.9亿美元。

GREE该时期净收益同比增长3倍，达127亿日元（1.58亿美元），净销售额达415亿日元（5.169亿美元），全年净销售额为13.7亿美元。（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）Mozilla opens HTML5 app marketplace

by Tim Green

Open source browser firm targets developers of web apps.

The Mozilla Marketplace is based on the Mozilla Web Apps platform, and therefore comprises a device-independent market for apps based on open Web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.

It’s also building Mozilla-proposed APIs that will be submitted to the W3C for standardisation and an identity system that ties apps to the user and not the device or platform.

The Mozilla Marketplace will open for developers to submit apps next week and will open to consumers later this year.

It adds more spice to the whole apps revolution and brings another player in the the web apps space that’s seeking to break apart the walled gardens erected by device makers.

Mozilla will therefore line up alongside Amazon, Opera and others in trying to become a partner for developers and a destination for consumers.（source:mobile-ent）

2）10-inch Kindle Fire to launch in Q2 2012, reports China Times

by Chris James

Just as the 7-inch tablet market is becoming more successful, so Amazon is reportedly preparing a 10-inch follow up to its existing Kindle Fire.

China Times claims Amazon is looking to build on the success its tablet has amassed with a larger, and cheaper to make successor – though the exact design is yet to finalised.

Cost cutting

A 10-inch variant – manufactured by Foxconn – is the mooted option, with the switch of ODM enabling Amazon to have more control over components.

In October 2011, IHS iSuppli estimated Amazon would lose almost $11 on every Kindle Fire sold, with the firm expecting to recoup such losses through its online services and the sale of apps through Appstore for Android.

It’s suggested that, with Q1 sales having hit an estimated 6 million, Amazon is now looking to turn on profit on hardware alone, sourcing cheaper parts to reduce its expenses.

The site claims the new Kindle Fire will go into mass production in May or June, before being unleashed upon the buying public at the end of Q2 2012.（source:pocketgamer）

3）Halfbrick going all-out with Fruit Ninja merchandise

By Brad Hilderbrand

Halfbrick’s slash-a-thon game Fruit Ninja is seriously having a moment. The game, which has surpassed 130 million downloads already and whose success inspired a Kinect-enabled console version, is about to come blasting out of the digital world and launch a full-on invasion into meatspace. Today Halfbrick announced new partnerships with a slew of partners that will spawn all manner of new Fruit Ninja themed merchandise.

The “fruits” of these new partnerships (see what I did there?) will include tchotchkes like keychains, stickers and plushies, to card and board games, fruit snacks, phone cases and even underwear. If Halfbrick introduces a thong with the Sensei on it, I’m buying 12.

The products are scheduled to start appearing on store shelves this week, and new stuff will continue to be launched through the year and into 2013. Sadly we haven’t had the opportunity to see any of the products in person yet, but that’s probably for the best since we’d just try to slash them in half anyway.

Halfbrick’s moves very closely mirror those of Angry Birds, another megafranchise which has made the leap from mobile screens into the real world. Rovio managed to grow profits of the franchise from $10 million in 2010 to $100 million in 2011, largely thanks to brisk sales of branded merchandise. No doubt that Halfbrick took a look at those numbers and, once they wiped up the drool and saw a doctor about their eyeballs suddenly turning into dollar signs, went to sign up some partners themselves.（source:gamezebo）

4）Why Mobile Game Devs Should Port To Mac OS -Advice From Cut The Rope’s ZeptoLab

Josh Constine

Last week, a Mountain Lion roared “Mac is the next big gaming platform.” Apple is bringing Game Center to Mac, it will support cross-platform iPhone vs. Mac play, and the Mac App Store will likely become more prominent. It’s time for mobile developers to decide if they’ll bring their games to Mac OS, and how they’ll port their controls and levels. Otherwise they risk having to claw their way up much more competitive charts.

Tomorrow, after 100 million downloads across platforms, ZeptoLab will release its hit Cut The Rope for Mac OS. After hooking me up with a pre-release download, the Moscow-based founders gave me the low down on the biggest challenges of porting to Mac OS, and why they think it’s critical that mobile developers don’t get left behind on the small screen.

[Update: Cut The Rope is now available on the Mac OS App Store]
Why Port?

“We see opportunity with the Mac App Store because it’s not as occupied as the mobile App Store. There are several quite nice games, but the competition is not as huge” said ZeptoLab’s twin brother founders Semyon and Efim Voinov. Angry Birds and Plants Vs. Zombies are already available, but other staples like Fruit Ninja, Words With Friends, and Where’s My Water are absent. Without these apps occupying the charts, there are places for other developers to swoop in and get discovered.

As expensive console and PC games like Call Of Duty and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic appear in the store as well, paid apps ported from mobile may be able to get away with charging higher prices. On a phone $5 may seem steep, but the bigger screen size and history of $50 disc-based games may make $5 appear cheap on the Mac App Store.

“We started quite a while ago doing this in-house. It took a bit longer than we expected, but from a technical standpoint the process of porting to Mac was pretty straightforward. The tools are pretty good. The majority of work was on the design and art side.”（source:techcrunch）

5）Fast growing Russian social mobile company Game Insight sets up San Francisco publishing office

by Jon Jordan

Rising star of Android social gaming, Russian publisher Game Insight has announced it’s setting up a new arm in the US.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Game Insight Publishing will enable it better access to North American development teams as it looks to expand its global operations.

Riding the wave

Originally set up by Alisa Chumachenko in 2009 as a games investment company, Game Insight now consists of 14 development studios and over 260 staff.

It’s released 24 social games, including on Facebook, Orkut, iOS and especially Android, where free-to-play games such as My Country and Paradise Island have been top grossing. （source:pocketgamer）

6）Jagex CEO believes new Apple hardware could ‘kill the App Store’

by James Gilmour

Mark Gerhard, COE of developer Jagex, has made some doom-laden predictions regarding the future of the App Store.

Speaking at a BAFTA-chaired Games Question Time, Gerhard spoke of how advancements in browser technology will lure developers away from closed platforms.

“This is controversial, but the mobile bubble will burst this year,” Gehard said.

“There just isn’t the money there. The only people that are winning right now are Apple and consumers.”

The price of success

Gerhard believes that the cost of developing a highly-polished profit-making game for the App Store doesn’t justify the return, revealing that Jagex’s four chart-topping iPhone games only generate £3,000 or £4,000 profit a month.

Going further still, he declared that Apple hardware updates like the iPhone 5 and the iPad 3 could make the situation worse, and ultimately “kill the App Store”.

“I think that fundamentally, bar a handful of winners that Apple is keeping, nobody makes money on their platform. It’s great for consumers, not good for developers, and that’s going to be the death of it,” Gerhard continued.（source:pocketgamer）

7）Android, iOS revenues of publicly-traded gaming companies came in between $25-75M last year

Kim-Mai Cutler

It’s that time of year again. Now that all of the gaming companies have reported earnings, we’ve made our quarterly cheat sheet for industry observers summarizing smartphone earnings and growth.

We’ve also added in annual earnings too.

For the whole of 2011, revenues on Android and iOS came in at between $25 and 75 million for publicly-traded companies that I could tease out smartphone earnings from. Quarter-over-quarter growth

accelerated following the iPhone 4S launch and during the holidays, as it typically does. This year, we’ll probably see a few companies comfortably cross the $100 million in revenues on Android and iOS.

Publicly-Traded Gaming Companies

There are a few publicly-traded companies like Sega, Take Two Interactive (which owns Grand Theft Auto-maker Rockstar Games), and Caesar’s (which owns Playtika), that we didn’t include because they don’t break out mobile earnings at all.

Glu Mobile:

Fourth-quarter smartphone revenue: $10.1 million, up threefold from the same quarter a year ago when it earned $3.1 million in the fourth quarter. But quarter-over-quarter growth continues to slow with just a $400,000 increase over the previous quarter. The chart below Glu shared below is based on non-GAAP revenue, which isn’t in line with generally accepted accounting principles.

Smartphone revenue for all of 2011: $35.1 million, more than triple the $9.87 million Glu earned the year before.

Market capitalization: $239.5 million, up from $205.3 million the last time we published this sheet.

Hits: Contract Killer and Gun Bros continue to perform well, contributing $1.9 and $1.5 million respectively in the holiday quarter. But one of the new titles, Stardom, seems to be performing well on the grossing charts as well.

Capcom’s Mobile Unit (also known as Beeline Interactive):

Revenue (Smartphone & Social Networking Sites): We calculated that Capcom’s mobile and social gaming unit pulled in $17.8 million in the quarter ending in December. The company had said the unit had earned $50.1 million in the first nine months of their fiscal year (which starts in March) and then in a previous statement, it said the unit made $32.3 million in the first half. It’s not clear how much of that came from the Facebook version versus the iOS version of the Smurf’s Village, Monster Pet Shop or Snoopy’s Street Fair.

Mobile & social gaming revenue for all of 2011: $70.7 million and Capcom expects to see $75 million for the full fiscal year ending on March 31.

Market Capitalization: $1.42 billion, down from $1.82 billion the last time we did this sheet.

Hits: Snoopy’s Street Fair, Smurf’s Village

Gamevil:

Smartphone Revenue: $12.8 million this quarter, up by more than fivefold from a year ago. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, that’s almost twice what it was in the third quarter, when smartphone revenues were $7 million.

Smartphone gaming revenue for all of 2011: $27.7 million

Market Capitalization: $357.9 million, down from $378 million the last time we did this sheet.

Hits: Zenonia, Baseball Superstars

Electronic Arts:

Mobile revenue (includes feature phones): $70 million last quarter, up 19 percent year-over-year. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, mobile revenue is up $15 million.

Annual mobile revenue (includes feature phones): $252 million

Market Capitalization: $5.7 billion, down from $7.6 billion the last time we did this sheet

Hits: Monopoly Hotels, Plants vs. Zombies, NBA Jam, Tetris

Gameloft:

Overall & Smartphone Revenues: Gameloft did 47 million euros ($62.2 million) in the fourth quarter. It said smartphone and tablet-related sales were 41 percent of total sales, or 19.3 million euros ($25.5 million). That’s up 64 percent year-over-year.

Smartphone gaming revenue for all of 2011: $74.3 million

Market Capitalization: $514.6 million, up from $421 million when we last did this sheet.

Hits: Gangstar Rio: City of Saints, The Oregon Trail, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, Modern Combat 3

Zynga:

Revenue: Overall third quarter revenue was $311.3 million. Zynga does not break out mobile revenue, but it did say that it had 15 million daily active users on iOS and Android. Total annual

revenues were $1.14 billion.

Hits: Words With Friends, Zynga Poker, Dream Zoo

Market capitalization: $9.11 billion

The Japanese Mobile Gaming Platforms That Are Trying to Crack The West

DeNA:

Net Sales & Income: The Japanese company, which is trying to make headway into Western and Chinese markets with its Mobage platform, said net sales rose 16 percent year-over-year to 34.2 billion yen ($448 million). But net income declined by 25 percent to 6.08 billion yen ($79.2 million) as additional headcount ate into the company’s margins.

Net sales for all of 2011: $1.7 billion

Market Capitalization: $4.73 billion, down from $5.29 billion the last time we did this sheet.

GREE:

Net Sales & Income: GREE has a pretty remarkable quarter with after more than tripling its net income from a year earlier to 12.7 billion yen ($158 million). It nearly did the same for its overall revenue with net sales reaching 41.5 billion yen ($516.9 million).

Annual net sales: $1.37 billion

Market Capitalization: $6.93 billion, down from $8.22 billion the last time we did the earnings sheet.（source:insidemobileapps）