• by Shankar Gupta , March 6, 2007

Revenue for mobile games on portals jumped 61% to $151 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to the same period one year ago, with the number of downloaders increasing by 45% over the same period to 17.4 million, according to data released Monday by research firm Telephia.

The composition of mobile games purchased skews female and older than the standard game console demo, the report stated--with 65% of all games being purchased by women, and 40% of games purchased from portals being bought by players in the 25-36 bracket.

The mobile game industry, despite quick growth in the last year, now faces challenges from other areas of mobile entertainment, said Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of mobile content for Telephia.

"The mobile game industry has seen strong growth very quickly with titles that appeal to a broad demographic. However, the industry is faced with a new challenge in order to sustain its growth," he said. "Several new mobile content services such as mobile video and full-track music are also competing for the mobile consumers' attention and wallet."

The top tier of mobile game publishers is dominated by Electronic Arts' mobile division, which captured 28% of total revenue in 2006. Gameloft and Glu Mobile make up the second tier, with roughly 11% each. Following up are Namco, I-play, Digital Chocolate, Hands-On Mobile, Superscape, Capcom and Oasys Mobile, with between 6% and 2% shares.