1）WebMediaBrands旗下部门Inside Network最近发布报告指出，2011年美国手机游戏IAP收益达3.5亿美元，预计2012年将增长至5亿美元。

pound-coins(from irishviews)

报告预测，2012年Facebook游戏中的虚拟商品交易额将达29亿美元，Facebook Credits是推动这个市场发展的主要因素。

该报告调查了3000名玩家在Facebook、iOS和Android社交游戏中的消费行为，有63%受访者已经了解Facebook Credits功能。

有趣的是，60%手机社交游戏玩家声称自己并没有使用Facebook Credits虚拟货币。

2）Kantar Worldpanel ComTech最近报告显示，英国目前有2000万年龄超过50岁的手机用户，三星和苹果用户在这部分群体中分别占比36.6%和23.4%，诺基亚仅占比6.2%。

将近三分之二的英国用户使用移动设备上网，57%使用手机查看邮件，52%使用该设备下载应用程序，34%通过手机登录社交网站。

50多岁用户的手机用途多与在PC或笔记本电脑上的操作活动相同，而50岁以下用户的手机与电脑用途则各不相同。

3）据彭博社报道，Zynga首席执行官Mark Pincus日前透露Zynga仍将进行一些规模与OMGPOP相当的收购交易。

Zynga-OMGPOP(from openews.net)

Zynga在2010至2011年间共斥资1.472亿美元收购22家公司（游戏邦注：有知情者透露Zynga曾在2011年底欲以20亿美元以上的价格收购Rovio但被对方拒绝，分析师Michael Pachter最近还指出《割绳子》开发商ZeptoLab也已进入Zynga的考虑范围），此前有意收购OMGPOP的公司还包括EA、迪士尼、GREE和DeNA。

4）据pocketgamer报道，谷歌最近赞助伊利诺伊大学研究人员发起一项针对应用商店虚假用户评价的调查项目，将根据一个名为GSRank（Group Spam Rank）的关系算法，使用包括用户发布评论的时间间隔、评价内容相似度，以及相关评论与产品的关系等一系列信息，考察开发者在Google Play中人为操纵用户评价的情况。

5）据路透社报道，欧洲最大的运营商最近表示，由于售价过高，缺乏创新，早期的电池及软件故障等因素，诺基亚Lumia设备在欧洲鲜有市场。甚至有运营商表示，诺基亚对该设备的市场营销支持力度有所欠缺。

Nokia Lumia 900(from conversations.nokia.com)

有名运营商高管表示，诺基亚现在面临双重挑战，一是恢复自己在智能手机硬件市场的名誉，二是克服微软Windows Phone这个操作系统并无多大支持率的不利条件并获得成功。基本上没有用户主动寻找Windows Phone设备，假如Lumia采用的是Android而非Windows操作系统，可能还更有销路。

6）德国发行商HandyGames最近宣布旗下游戏在Google Play实现2500万次免费下载量，在诺基亚功能性手机实现2000万次下载量。

该公司在过去16个月中向诺基亚应用商店推出100多款Java手机游戏，并针对Series 40 Asha手机优化了35款游戏。

该公司首席执行官Christopher Kassulke表示，Asha设备等功能性手机仍然很有市场，预计公司在这一平台的手机游戏下载量仍针在未来数月持续增长。虽然诺基亚智能手机的重点是Windows Phone平台，但其功能性手机在新兴国家销量仍然处于上升趋势，诺基亚至今已售出15亿部Series 40手机。

7）BusinessDegree.net最近发布的手机游戏信息图表显示，64%用户每天都会玩手机游戏，而每天使用天气应用的用户比例则是60%，社交网络日常用户使用比例为56%。

用户平均每月投入手机游戏的时间约7.8小时，其中iPhoe用户为14.7小时，Android用户为9.3小时，功能性手机用户为4.7小时，Windows Phone 7用户为4.5小时，黑莓用户为4.5小时。

31%用户在床上玩手机游戏，16%在坐车途中玩手机游戏，12%用户在看电视时玩游戏，在卫生间玩游戏的用户为11%；52%游戏玩家每天游戏时间超过1小时，每天都玩智能手机游戏的用户比例达53%。

美国手机游戏玩家已达1亿，将近全美人口的三分之一。

用户对手机游戏的消费愿意更高，其比例达93%；2011年手机游戏市场规模达120亿美元。

IAP及广告模式是手机游戏主要创收来源，在App Store中前100名应用营收榜单中，采用免费模式的产品占比34%。

《Tiny Tower》发布第一年仅IAP收益就达到300万美元，《愤怒的小鸟》每月通过广告创收600万美元。

little-games-big-business1(from businessdegree)

（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）US mobile games IAP revenue to hit $500 million in 2012

by Tom Worthington

Revenue made from in-app purchases in mobile games is set to reach $500 million in the US this year, up from $350 million in 2011.

A study published by Inside Network, a division of WebMediaBrands, pointed to the massive uptake of the free-to-play business model as the reason for its findings.

The firm’s survey was generated from questioning 3,000 gamers in terms of their spending activity and usage patterns in a variety of social games across Facebook, iOS, and Android.

The social network

Inside Network compared these figures to those of virtual goods purchases through Facebook, which it expects will top $2.9 billion in 2012.

The social network’s universal currency, Facebook Credits, is said to have been a major factor in this, recognised by 63 percent of those surveyed.

Interestingly 60 percent of those who play social games on mobiles claimed they didn’t use Facebook Credits suggesting major dispartity between the two markets.

You can purchase the report – Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Patterns of the Social and Mobile Gaming Audience 2012 – priced $995, here.（source:pocketgamer）

2）Over 50s embrace the smartphone

by Zen Terrelonge

More than half of all handsets bought by seniors in the past three months were smartphones.

Research by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech also found that almost two-thirds use the devices for web browsing, while 57 per cent use email, 52 per cent download apps and 34 per cent use social networking.

Interestingly, a small but significant 18 per cent stream videos and 17 per cent use IM services, which are both features more associated with younger users.

There are 20 million mobile owners over 50 in the UK, with Samsung and Apple dominating 50+ sales with 36.6 per cent and 23.4 per cent respectively, while Nokia trails with just 6.2 per cent.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said: “The keenly-priced Samsung Galaxy Ace is the top-selling handset in this group.  This fits with our analysis showing that ‘cost of handset’ is the top stated reason for handset choice in the over 50s category.

“Given the relative price sensitivity of this consumer group, we would expect to see Asian manufacturers such as ZTE and Huawei start to make big inroads in this market during 2012.

“As internet connectivity becomes ever more integral to consumers lives, regardless of age, so the desire for mobile internet increases.  Our data tends to show that over 50s mobile use replicates much of what they do at home on their PC or laptop. In contrast, under 50s tend to use their phones and computers for different purposes.”（source:mobile-ent）

3）Report: Zynga expects to make more high-dollar Omgpop-size acquisitions

by Mike Rose

Zynga recently purchased Draw Something developer Omgpop for an eyebrow-raising $180 million, and Zynga CEO Mark Pincus told Bloomberg that’s not the end of high-dollar acquisitions for

his company.

Pincus said that the company expects to do “a few” more deals the size of the Omgpop acquisition. “We love finding great, accomplished teams that share our mission and vision,” he explained.

“If we ever see breakout opportunities that massively accelerate social gaming at Zynga, we’ll aggressively pursue those, too.” Zynga spent a combined $147.2 million on 22 company acquisitions over 2010 and 2011

According to the Bloomberg report, Zynga had competition for the Omgpop acquisition, including Electronic Arts, Walt Disney, Gree and DeNA.

The report also said that one of these larger acquisition attempts for Zynga was Angry Birds developer Rovio – however, “a source familiar with the company” stated that Rovio turned down an offer of over $2 billion. Reports of Zynga’s attempt to buy Rovio emerged in late 2011.（source:gamasutra）

4）New Google-sponsored GSRank algorithm highlights opinion spam in app stores

by Anthony Usher

If you browse the App Store or Google Play for more than a few minutes, you’ll likely come across some rather suspect reviews.

It’s not unusual to see a bunch of five-star reviews that have clearly been left by people tied to the game in question, followed by scathing opinions from actual players. There’s also the issue of for-pay opinion spamming. Basically, people being paid to leave favourable reviews.

Thankfully, a new Google-sponsored study, entitled ‘Spotting Fake Reviewer Groups in Consumer Reviews’, by University of Illinois researchers could help to spot opinion spam using a new relation-based algorithm called GSRank (Group Spam Rank).

The algorithm uses numerous bits of information, including how closely together members post reviews, similarities in review content, and observed relationships between group spam and products.

A keen eye

Apple in particular has had trouble with people manipulating its App Store – several companies reportedly offer services (for a price) that guarantee your app will make it into the Apple’s top 25 iTunes charts.

These companies recruit people to download a specified app during a given period of time, which propels it up the charts and into a position that’s likely to attract real downloaders.

It looks like Apple and Google – at the very least – are taking notice of methods that will help them to combat both forms of manipulation.（source:pocketgamer）

5）Nokia Lumia would be easier to sell if it used Android say European carriers

by Keith Andrew

Phone shops across Europe didn’t spend Christmas fighting off the queues for Nokia’s Lumia devices.

The big European carriers haven’t been impressed either, at least that’s according to Reuters.

It points to the range being overpriced, lacking innovation, and hit by early glitches in battery life and software. Some even say there’s not been enough marketing support for the devices – something that’s hard to believe walking down any UK high street.

No Lumia love

“Nokia have given themselves a double challenge: to restore their credibility in terms of making hardware smartphones and succeed with the Microsoft Windows operating system, which lags in the market,” one executive told Reuters.

“No one comes into the store and asks for a Windows Phone. If the Lumia with the same hardware came with Android in it and not Windows, it would be much easier to sell.”

With the firm’s flagship Windows Phone device – the Lumia 900 – having only launched in the US on 9 April and due to hit the UK on 27 April, series wide sales have been solid if unspectacular to date.

Indeed, Nokia’s recent dire financial forecast presented Lumia as the light at the end of the tunnel, with quarterly sales hitting the 2 million mark.

The Reuters report also flies in the face of stats published by Kantar WorldPanel in February that suggested Nokia’s Lumia 800 was already a best seller in both Germany and Austria.（source:pocketgamer）

6）HandyGames claims 20 million Java downloads from Nokia feature phones

by Jon Jordan

The numbers keep on flowing from German publisher HandyGames.

Following the news it’s reached 25 million mainly free downloads on Google Play comes the announcement of 20 million downloads on Nokia feature phones.

It’s a figure that’s been powered by the 100-odd Java games that HandyGames distributes for free via the Nokia app store over the past 16 months. It also has over 35 games optimised for the Series 40 Asha phones.

Brimful of Asha

“The feature phone market is still strong thanks to devices such as the Asha range,” commented CEO Christopher Kassulke.

“We believe this number will continue to grow strongly in the coming months,” he added.

Although Nokia’s smartphone line is now focused on Windows Phones, its cheap feature phone business for emerging market continues to ship high volumes.

To-date, Nokia’s sold 1.5 billion Series 40 phones.（source:pocketgamer）

7）Mobile games: Little games, big business [Infographic]

by Libe Goad

So, there’s nothing in this infographic that hasn’t made the rounds before, but when you see all of those big numbers — millions and billions — lined up in a row, it’s like, damn! Mobile gaming is, like, a virus.

But it’s the good kind of virus, that makes you want to drop everything and play Draw Something or Bejeweled Blitz, while in bed, watching TV and in the bathroom. And, it also makes sense why FarmVille maker Zynga is more than ready to embark on new multi-million dollar shopping sprees for mobile game studios.

So, go ahead, look at all of the zeroes in this infographic (as in, Angry Birds makes $6,000,000 in ads every month) and start sketching out plans for your own blockbuster mobile game. Most of the American population, and Zynga, is waiting…（source:games）