iOS and Android bring in more money than Nintendo and Sony

Five years ago, if we talked about mobile games, we meant games for portable consoles from Nintendo or Sony. Today, mobile games are Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and other super popular and free or very inexpensive smartphone games. IOS and Android have tripled their market share since 2009.

On Wednesday, Flurry Analytics released statistics that show that for the first time games on iOS and Android in the United States have earned more money in total than the traditional leaders of the gaming industry Sony and Nintendo. This year, games for iOS and Android will bring in $1.9 billion, while games for Sony and Nintendo will bring in just $1.4 billion.

It took only two years for such a change in the market.

In 2009, the revenue of the mobile games market amounted to $ 2.7 billion. Sony and Nintendo, whose games can cost from $5 to $40, owned over 80% of the total market revenue. Games for Android and iOS are often distributed on a shareware model or cost 99 cents or a couple of dollars more. They made a huge breakthrough in 2010, taking 34% of the total amount of $2.5 billion. But the main breakthrough was made for the current year, 2011. By the end of this year, according to Flurry, the revenue of the mobile games market will be $ 3.3 billion. Games for iOS and Android will own 58% of it, while Sony’s share will be only 6%, and Nintendo – 36%.  

Games for portable consoles are not the only source of income for Sony and Nintendo: they also have games for “big” consoles. However, they should think carefully: Apple and Google have already invaded their territory with Apple TV and Google TV. And it may not be so long before Apple and Google want to enter the gaming market on their own.