Survey reveals over 40 million iOS gamers in the US

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Over half of the 77 million Americans who play mobile games in the U.S. do so on an iOS device, a new survey reports.



The International Gamers Survey from NewZoo reported Friday that Apple "has entered the major league of the portable gaming market" and is poised to overtake Nintendo in the U.S.



American Nintendo DS and DSi gamers total 41 million, compared to Apple's 40.1 million iOS gamers. The data was collected from over 10,000 respondents in June 2010.



Apple now has more than twice the mobile gamer base as Sony, which had just 19 million U.S. gamers. Nintendo and Apple share significant overlap, with 14 million U.S. mobile gamers playing games on both the iPod touch and the Nintendo DS.



The survey also found that Apple's iOS has outstripped the Sony Playstation Portable, but remains far behind the Nintendo DS, in key European markets.



A higher percentage of Nintendo and Sony users spend money to play: 67 percent of Nintendo's, 66 percent of Sony's, 45 percent of iPod touch and iPhone users, and just 32 percent of iPad users. Over half of Nintendo DS and PSP users spend more than $10 a month compared to 38 percent for the iPhone and iPod touch. 72 percent of iPad users spend over $10 a month.



?Recent growth in the sales figures of the iPod Touch could be an indication that people are increasingly seeing Apple?s portable devices as game platform," commented NewZoo Managing Director Peter Warman. "The youth seems to be moving from trying their parents device to buying an iPod Touch for themselves. Being able to start off playing free games is a key advantage of iOS and Android

devices and comparable to successful social gaming and MMO business models."



The iOS platform has been making huge strides in the U.S. gaming market. Apple CEO Steve Jobs proclaimed the iPod touch "the number one portable game player in the world," at the company's Sept 1 event. "The iPod touch outsells Nintendo and Sony portable game players combined."



In 2009, Apple took in 19 percent of the total portable game software revenue in the U.S., up from just 5 percent in 2008, according to Flurry Analytics. Jobs claimed earlier this month that the iPod touch alone has now captured over 50 percent of the portable game player market.



The Cupertino, Calif., company has focused its efforts on gaming. The new Game Center social gaming service in iOS 4.1 connects gamers through matchmaking, leaderboards, and achievements. In April, the company hired a new games editor for the App Store. Apple was rumored to be in talks with a Chinese game developer earlier in August. Late last year, Apple was looking to hire a AAA-caliber game developer.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    And growing.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    "The youth seems to be moving from trying their parents device to buying an iPod Touch for themselves."



    Really, the youth are buying things for themselves? Wow, how, child labour?
  • Reply 3 of 28
    Personally, I'd love to see these 2 giants shake hands and come to some deal that gives us great games, and Nintendo a better media suite...
  • Reply 4 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cy_starkman View Post


    "Really, the youth are buying things for themselves? Wow, how, child labour?



    At least in the US, "youth" generally means under 18. There are plenty of 13-17 year-olds earning money in perfectly legal ways.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NanoAkron View Post


    Personally, I'd love to see these 2 giants shake hands and come to some deal that gives us great games, and Nintendo a better media suite...



    Heck yea! I'd love to see Mario in the App store.



    Sure, we can get emulators on our Jailbroken iPods, but it's a pretty shoddy implementation. Something native would rock!
  • Reply 6 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cy_starkman View Post


    "The youth seems to be moving from trying their parents device to buying an iPod Touch for themselves."



    Really, the youth are buying things for themselves? Wow, how, child labour?



    Well, it is probably more that the parents are tired of giving up their iPod/iPhone to the kid... Time to get them their own...

    Hell, my oldest is not even 6 yet and I am considering something to keep him off my iPhone. And only 2 years ago I was questioning my brother getting an iPod Touch for his pre-teens. Such is life!
  • Reply 7 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bageljoey View Post


    Well, it is probably more that the parents are tired of giving up their iPod/iPhone to the kid... Time to get them their own...

    Hell, my oldest is not even 6 yet and I am considering something to keep him off my iPhone. And only 2 years ago I was questioning my brother getting an iPod Touch for his pre-teens. Such is life!



    Tell me about it! Mine is only 2 and I can't keep his hands off it! Apple should team up with Fisher Price and make a ultra durable iPod touch.
  • Reply 8 of 28
    As Apple grows, so will the criticism.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NanoAkron View Post


    Personally, I'd love to see these 2 giants shake hands and come to some deal that gives us great games, and Nintendo a better media suite...



    if mario comes to the app store then we'll finally see a new number one paid app in the app store. 1st super mario, then at 2nd angry birds.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    Allow streaming of games from iOS devices or the App store to the AppleTV and people would be playing even more games on Apple products.



    I personally only play games when waiting for long periods on the go. At home, if nothing is on the TV worth watching (often) then a good Wii video game with the kids is always fun. At home I don't want to be staring at a tiny screen for my entertainment.



    Apple needs to fill this gap in their gaming strategy. I believe they already have but are not saying so. I'm sure that the AppleTV OS is a stripped down version of iOS and will be updated to stream games to. With that feature I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTel View Post


    Allow streaming of games from iOS devices or the App store to the AppleTV and people would be playing even more games on Apple products.



    Apple needs to fill this gap in their gaming strategy. I believe they already have but are not saying so. I'm sure that the AppleTV OS is a stripped down version of iOS and will be updated to stream games to. With that feature I'd buy one in a heartbeat.



    Same here. Playing ios games on a big screen tv would be nice
  • Reply 12 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JuanGuapo View Post


    As Apple grows, so will the criticism.



    They've always been beset by naysayers. May as well make good money if you're going to be constantly criticized.
  • Reply 13 of 28
    Seriously? From a product that only hit the market with 3rd-party games a little over 2 years ago? How long has Symbian, WinMO, DS and PSP been active in the US trying to drum up business.



    I’m not sure if this is representative of how well Apple understands their consumers and business, or how utterly inept their competition really is to let this happen in such a short time frame. For instance, I think Nintendo and Sony should have been considering incorporaring a viable PMP into their gaming platform to quash iPod sales long before the iPod ever took the lion’s share of the market.
  • Reply 14 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cy_starkman View Post


    "The youth seems to be moving from trying their parents device to buying an iPod Touch for themselves."



    Really, the youth are buying things for themselves? Wow, how, child labour?



    You sound jaded and ill-informed. You can work in the US at 16 and at 14 in Agriculture for Farms, to name but two age brackets. I did.
  • Reply 15 of 28
    APPLE IOS gaining big time in the gaming market. Holidays should really seperate the men from the boys.

    Hopefully the game center they came up with will bring the excitement everybody is looking for. We'll just have to wait & see what the App creators like EPIC etc have in mind with IOS 4.2 coming in November.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    Not surprising. Apple has decided that games are a major market for them. They just don't want to be thought of as a gaming device so they have walked that line carefully. It certainly isn't surprising. It is more versatile, is in the same price range, less expensive games, and has higher performance then a dedicated gaming device. I am surprised that Nintendo and Sony are still selling anything since they have yet to come up with anything to contest Apple's business model. Shows you how much entrenched market share helps.



    I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo or Sony start producing games for the iPod touch. Although Nintendo's stereoscopic handheld seems like an interesting idea, they don't seem to be putting much effort in to something that can really compete. Nintendo is in a lot better position then Sony because they have more strength in their first party titles. Depending solely on first party titles probably isn't a good long term strategy.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    It would be nice to have the exact questions asked on the surveys published when the articles are posted all over the place.
  • Reply 18 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OllieWallieWhiskers View Post


    Heck yea! I'd love to see Mario in the App store.



    Sure, we can get emulators on our Jailbroken iPods, but it's a pretty shoddy implementation. Something native would rock!



    Period.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    It's just the fact that it does so much more than gaming. I personally don't want to carry around a HD video camera and PSP with me to video record and play games when my iPod already does it all...and then some...
  • Reply 20 of 28
    This article is pretty misleading - lots of empty statistics.



    41 million Nintendo owners

    40 million iOS "gamers"

    19 million PSP owners

    _______________________

    77 million mobile gamers.



    We know that everyone who uses a Nintendo or PSP is spending most of their time gaming, but are the 40 million iOS gamers just people who have bought and/or installed a game on their iPhone or iPod? The above equation seems to imply that a lot of iOS users must also own Nintendos or PSPs (maybe they bought the iPhone for themself and the Nintendo for the kid, in which case there are acutally 100 million "mobile gamers" out there? And there are a lot of families where the kids share the Nintendo, but comparatively few couples who share a mobile phone..,.



    Does the fact that my Nokia (and every nokia) came with "Worms" and "Solitaire" on it make me a Symbian "gamer"? Because Nokia sold 81 million units in the US last year, and every single one of their phones comes with a game, and i'd say just about everyone who has a Nokia has played it at least once...



    This is basically just some marketing by Apple to get headlines and try and drive stock prices up via the media. The fanboys sure seem to be gobbling it up, though... This thread has it's tongue pretty far up Steve Jobs' ass
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