American consumers pay more for TV entertainment than mobile apps
The average American consumer pays 64 cents per hour of entertainment on cable TV, compared to just 11 cents on mobile games, research from Flurry Analytics has found.
The figures for 2014 show only a slight increase from 2013, when Americans spent 10.5 cents per hour on mobile games and 61 cents on TV.
Simon Khalaf, president and chief executive of Flurry, noted that despite the small amount spent on mobile games, the market for mobile apps is expected to reach $4.2bn (£2.68bn) this year, compared to $3bn (£1.9bn) in 2013.
He said: “With the rapid growth of smartphones and tablets, the number of mobile gamers in the US has increased from 94 million in 2013 to 108 million in 2014. Second, the time-spent in gaming apps increased from approximately 50 minutes in 2013 to approximately 56 minutes in 2014 (a 12 per cent increase).
“So while the overall market is expected to grow by $1.2bn, the per hour cost only grew by 4.7 per cent from 10.5 cents to 11 cents. But, more users spending more hours in games adds up to big bucks.”
It was suggested that as the mobile industry continues to grow and more money is spent to make high-quality apps, mobile content – including games, music and entertainment – will continue to climb in price.