iPhone Users Most Likely to Pay for Mobile Games

Headline data released from the Mobile section of the UK National Gamers Survey Report has revealed that 8 million people in the UK play games on their mobile, and a significant share of them pay for their games. The survey also looked into the market share of the individual handset brands and operators. Large differences are revealed when looking at conversion to paying gamers on mobile. 
Key findings from the report include:

• 8 million people of 8 years and over in the UK play games on their mobile phone.
• 25% of people playing videogames in the UK (31.2million) play games on their phone. 53% of mobile gamers are male and 47% are female.
• 39% of all UK mobile gamers are in the 20 - 34 age group.

The report also analyses the number of mobile gamers by handset maker and network operator. On the handset front, Sony Ericsson leads the way, with 2.3 million mobile gamers, followed by Nokia (1.8 million) and Samsung (1.5 million). When it comes to the percentage of handset owners who pay for games, however, Apple blazes a trail, with 85% of its 700,000 mobile gamers saying they have paid for a mobile game, followed by Samsung (51% of 1.5 million) and LG (41% of 550,000).
From the operator perspective, O2 leads the way with 2.4 million mobile gamers, followed by Vodafone (1.4 million) and Orange (1.3 million). Looking at the percentage of these mobile gamers who have paid for a mobile game, O2 heads the chart with 67%, followed by 3 and Orange, both on 50%.
Conducted by TNS and Gamesindustry.com, the UK National Gamers Survey Report is part of the 2009 Todays Gamers International Survey, and the latest in a series of identical nation-wide surveys conducted across European key areas and the US.
For years, mobile phones have been praised as the new gaming platform, but typical for the telecoms industry, clear data has been lacking, says Gamesindustry.coms Peter Warman. This report reveals these facts for the first time. One of the most interesting insights is on the ability to monetize mobile game content. The iPhone does, by far, not have the number of users but is extremely good at monetizing the popularity of games on mobile phones. This has also clearly had its effect on the conversion to paying gamers of the large operators closely related to iPhone.
The full UK National Gamers Survey Report and full datasets are available for 4,950, (4,456) and an international comparative high-level report across all countries surveyed (US, UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium) comprising 80 pages and 120 graphs is also available for 4,950. Theres more information here.