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Mobile gambling, which doesn't now exist as a market in North America, will grow to $3.34 billion in revenue by 2011, accounting for 14% of a $23.2 billion world market, according to research released this week. Driving this growth, says Juniper Research Ltd., which published the research, are the rapid proliferation of handsets and the ability mobile devices give users to engage in “on-the-spot,” low-stakes wagering as a form of entertainment akin to online games. These factors will help establish mobile gaming as an important form of mobile commerce, the U.K.-based research firm says. “The most convincing and inherent advantage of the mobile platform is the fact that it allows access anywhere and any time,” says Juniper in a white paper drawn from its research. “…This opens up a new manner of gambling which has not been possible before?'on-the-spot' gambling, including 'in-event' gambling. It also opens up the market for 'casual' gambling, that is, gambling as a form of entertainment to fill time.” For this reason, Juniper sees mobile gaming attracting a number of new users who are not necessarily drawn to online gaming, which tends to attract a more serious gambler. Juniper says this m-commerce market faces a number of hurdles, including regulatory constraints and a pressing need to verify the user's age. “The whole industry is keen to prevent under-age gambling, which is a significant risk because of the large base of young mobile users,” the paper says. Also, developers will face difficulties introducing conventional casino games because of the constraints of screen size and cell-phone keypads as well as network availability. “This is one of the main reasons why Juniper Research feels that the mobile channel will develop a dynamic of its own [apart from online gaming], being the preferred method of gambling for more casual gamblers seeking to fill time with exciting forms of entertainment,” says the paper.
