China’s mobile games market will reach $6.5 billion in revenues this year, more than one fifth of the $30.1 billion generated worldwide. This positions China as the world’s biggest market for smartphone and tablet games, ahead of the US with an anticipated $6.0 billion in revenues this year. China is on the strategic radar of every global game company, but many Western publishers are still seeking the best strategy to penetrate this extremely dynamic market. Until now, the market lacked a single source of data on the Chinese mobile landscape covering both the iOS and Android ecosystem. Today, market analytics firm Newzoo and TalkingData, China’s leading provider of mobile intelligence, announce a world-first monthly report that covers performance of all device brands, app stores, games, genres and publishers: The China Mobile Games Monitor.

Local Chinese Android Stores Take 12 percent of The Global Market
Globally, Google Play will take 38 percent of the pie, while other Android app stores will account for 18 percent of total revenues. Most impressively, local Android app stores in China alone will generate revenues of $3.6 billion in 2015, or 12 percent of the global mobile games market. Globally, iOS will account for 42 percent of worldwide revenues, or $12.5Bn, of which $2.3Bn will come from China. The remaining $600 million from China’s mobile games market is generated by Google Play and feature phones. The seemingly fragmented Android ecosystem in China makes many developers reluctant to tap into the enormous revenues generated outside Google Play and iOS. However, a data-driven app store strategy, including penetration, usage and crossover of stores, is necessary to optimize monetization and maximize reach with minimum effort and resources. In fact, the China Mobile Games Monitor shows that more than half of Chinese mobile gamers can be reached by focusing on three to four local stores out of the list of more than 20. Thus, this dynamic app store ecosystem is becoming less fragmented and more inviting than ever for publishers.

Apple Gains Market Share in China as Active iOS Devices Surpass 250 million
With 257 million active devices and a 32 percent coverage rate in China in May 2015, Apple is China’s top brand in devices used. Samsung and Xiaiomi, China’s second and third brands, both have less than half of Apple’s usage numbers. Newzoo’s recent financial analysis also revealed that Apple generated more than $37 billion in China in 2014, making it the top technology brand in China by revenues. As a reference, Apple’s turnover was double that of Huawei and Lenovo and almost three times that of Tencent and Xiaomi in their home market. According to the China Mobile Games Monitor, the iPhone 6 surpassed the iPhone 5s just this May as the most used iOS device in China. Illustrative of Apple’s successful move to bigger screens is the fact that the iPhone 6 Plus took third position following a month-on-month jump of 27 percent, or an astounding additional 10 million devices used, compared to April. These recent developments will most probably lead to an upward adjustment of projected iOS game revenues for China.

Tencent #1 Publisher in China by Revenues; Blizzard Climbs The Ranks
Tencent, the world’s number one company by game revenues, is the unchallenged top grossing publisher in China on both iOS and Android. The China Mobile Games Monitor shows that in May 2015, Tencent published 29 of the top 100 grossing Android games and 59 of the top 100 grossing iOS games. Additionally, Tencent’s Myapp surpassed 360 Mobile Assistant as the number one app store by installs in China in May 2015, with its store installed on 26 percent of Android devices and used by close to 20 percent of all Android users in that month. NetEase generated the second highest revenues in iOS in May 2015, driven by the mobile version of its blockbuster RPG Meng Huan Xi You (Fantasy Westward Journey) while in Android, iDreamSky is runner-up to Tencent. Western publishers also saw success; Blizzard jumped five spots to become the ninth grossing iOS publisher while Supercell has held the number five position for the last few months. As the popularity of Minecraft has exploded this year in China, Mojang is the most successful Western company that publishes directly into the Android app stores.

The China Mobile Games Monitor; A Newzoo/TalkingData Joint Product
The China Mobile Games Monitor is a new service developed by market analyst Newzoo and Chinese mobile intelligence leader TalkingData. The report is the world’s first single source of data on the complete Chinese mobile landscape, covering all operating systems, device brands, app stores, game genres, games and publishers month-on-month performance. The monthly report aims to be the ultimate resource for companies that want to enter the Chinese mobile games market, prioritize and optimize local sales and marketing for those already active in China, as well as benchmark performance with competitors in terms of revenues, channels and in-game metrics. The service consists of a basic report available for $17,990 for 12 months and a premium service priced at $47,990 for a full year.

About TalkingData
TalkingData is China’s largest independent Big Data service platform with focus on the mobile Internet. TalkingData offers the best-in-class Big Data products and services varying from mobile app analytics, mobile ad tracking, mobile game analytics, mobile market intelligence, DMP (Data Management Platform), industry consulting, etc. Today, 80 percent of the Top 50 developers in China rely on TalkingData to track their app metrics, analyze user data points, and optimize monetization. Industry giants such as China Merchants Bank, Citic Bank, Ping An Group also rely on TalkingData’s enterprise Big Data solution to build their core data infrastructure towards the mobile era.

Contact
Grace Meng
Global Business Manager
yuanyuan.meng@tendcloud.com

About Newzoo
Newzoo is an innovative global market research and predictive analytics firm with a primary focus on games. Newzoo provides its clients with a mix of market trends, financial analysis, revenue projections, consumer insights, data modelling solutions and predictive analytics services across all continents, screens and business models. Newzoo works for the majority of top 25 public companies by game revenue globally, many independent game developers as well as leading global hardware and media companies. Newzoo is headquartered in Amsterdam with international offices in Shanghai and San Francisco.

Contact
Emma McDonald
PR & Marketing Manager
emma@newzoo.com