Smartphones have been one of the success stories of the 21st century. The advancements in phone technology have been nothing short of remarkable with lots of phone models being churned out annually in the world. What used to be a market with a few tech giants mainly Blackberry, iPhone, Samsung, HTC, Sony and Nokia has witnessed the entry of a host of new entrants such as Huawei, Oneplus, Vivo, Lenovo, LG, OPPO, Transsion, Xiaomi, Motorola, etc. The market is so competitive when it comes to mobile phones and yet with even more space for growth.
Sequel to its status as the world's second-most populous nation, India has benefited from the mobile telecommunication revolution which has also enabled it to grow its gaming industry. Anytime there's a rise in phone technology, then a concomitant growth in mobile gaming is almost inevitable as phones have risen to become the most important gadget to accessing gaming software as well as the internet.
India's Flourishing Mobile Gaming Industry
India, under its large population, is one of the biggest markets for mobile gaming. The production of mobile games has made gaming easier as gamers can get to download and play their preferred games. Mobile games also serve as a source of entertainment for old and young alike, especially those seeking a way to ease stress piled up from day-to-day activities. Mobile casinos are on the rise in India and the latest trend seems to be sports betting.
Ira Bakshi at Sportbetting India, says research confirms 90% of gamers in Indian gamblers gamble on mobile devices. Based on observation, mobile gaming is a lucrative industry as gamers in India typically spend an estimated one or more hours daily on gaming. This statistics is quite impressive considering that the implication is that Indians devote more time to gaming than they do to watching videos as the figure of the minutes spent on Netflix is estimated at 45 minutes. This is a compelling fact considering that Bollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the world. According to Statista, a German company specializing in consumer data, the mobile gaming market in India will be worth about 2.4 billion dollars in 2021. Other estimates postulate that the mobile gaming revenue for 2021 could reach the $1 billion mark.
Phone vs. Laptops and Desktop
The attraction of mobile phones as the predominant channel for internet access is not peculiar to India. The introduction of 5G wireless networks for mobile gaming in 2019 has significantly contributed to the growth of the mobile gaming industry. Besides technology, mobile phones are cheaper to purchase than a laptop or desktop. Therefore, access to laptops and desktops will potentially be more difficult than smartphones, especially in a country like India where most of the rural population is poor. Apart from the cost and ease of access, the nature of smartphones as pocket-friendly devices makes them more suitable for gaming. It is perceived more as a private property than a desktop or laptop hence phone owners can get more privacy in playing their favorite games than desktop or laptop owners. For instance, a laptop could be jointly owned but it is scarce to find a phone that will be jointly owned by two adults.
The far-reaching innovations in the tech industry have helped make available a lot of smartphones at affordable prices which are varying gaming ability which affords gaming enthusiasts the privilege to download their favorite games. The chipsets and processors for mobile phones can be modulated to accommodate mobile games. Games are frequently released through the course of the year on mobile platforms and the searches tend to be conducted by gaming enthusiasts who anticipate the release of new games. Indian players tend to be quite modest in their choice of mobile games as they seem more interested in simple games than more complex games.
As mobile technology continues to grow rapidly, more and more high-end Smartphone devices are poised to be released into the Indian market and this may more or less render the need for laptops and desktops obsolete even as more and more gamers will likely adopt the Smartphone as the major tool for gaming.
Screen size, which tends to be the major inhibiting factor, will not be much of a problem as new smartphones are being produced both with high-resolution capacity and also large screen sizes depending on the preferences of the prospective buyer. As the coronavirus pandemic is rife in India, more and more Indians are likely to turn to mobile activities as an avenue of coping with the social distancing measures to curb the trend of the virus.
