Saturday, Apr 06, 2013
Dubai: Play it again... on your smartphone. If it games that you are after, owning a smartphone will give you an instant connect. They have created a new audience for casual gaming with the rise of cheap apps and free-to-play games.
“Falling prices of smartphones are adding fuel to the demand, but a lot has to do with how people want to be perceived,” said Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer of Jacky’s Electronics.
“They buy new smartphones not because they need it or because there is something wrong with their existing device but because it is good to have a new phone to show off.”
At the same time, he said manufacturers from their end are releasing products more often which has quickened this cycle.
Sony launched its first PlayStation-certified Android smartphone — Xperis Play — in 2011 with gaming controls.
According to industry experts, more than 40 per cent of consumers play games on smartphones while around 20 per cent play it on tablets and around 5 per cent on desktops.
The replacement and upgrades to game consoles happen once in four to five years. This means many developers are focusing on smartphones to cash in.
Manufacturers are making the screens bigger to have a better impact.
With cloud services gaining traction, the impact of gaming on smartphones is definitely going to increase.
Controllers
The new category called phablet, smartphone-tablet combo, like Samsung Galaxy’s 5.5-inch Note 2 and Huawei’s 6.1-inch Ascend Mate is boosting the demand for gaming on smartphones. Gaming apps on smartphones and tablets are a billion-dollar industry and manufacturers have launched controllers (Apple and Android) for smartphone gamers.
“Yes, smartphones are very convenient for gaming and casual games are clearly fine on a smartphone, but for a person who is fully involved in arcade-style gaming, he/she may not be able to completely shift to phone gaming. Thus, it really depends on individual to individual,” said Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO of Emax.
The launch of faster wireless broadband networks is also helping this trend.
“Some categories have had to give way with the way technology devices have developed. Notebook computers for example are still growing in terms of unit sales but not at the rate they were growing at a few years ago,” Panjabi said.
Desktop gaming is still a big market, but portable devices like smartphones and tablets is giving consumers an opportunity to play whenever and wherever they want. Professional gamers still prefer to play in on desktops and consoles.
By Naushad K. Cherrayil Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
