Trends 2011: Mobile downloads intensify

Global mobile media company BuzzCity reports the number of mobile games being delivered to consumers via its Djuzz mobile gaming portal has leaped in recent months, pointing to a key trend for 2011. Gamers especially in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa were downloading more games in search of more mobile entertainment.
Global mobile media company BuzzCity has reported a significant increase in the number of mobile games being delivered to consumers via its Djuzz mobile gaming portal. The company’s latest monthly Djuzz charts, show a 17% increase in games downloaded globally in November, bringing the total for the month to 7.6 million games.

Dr. KF Lai, CEO of BuzzCity said: “A significant proportion of the growth in mobile gaming and other mobile internet usage that we are seeing are in areas where mobile is a cheaper and more accessible form of internet connectivity. This is particularly true in Africa, where Nigeria and Kenya have both seen triple digit growth in traffic to Djuzz over the last quarter.”

Gamers in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa were downloading more games in search of more mobile entertainment. African users visiting Djuzz rose an average of 45% since October. Kenya and Egypt were up 142% and 77%. Downloads increased by 31% across these countries, with Nigeria at the top with 46%.

The growth in Nigeria is due to the increase number of Djuzz catalogue partners, which drives users to download nine games per visit, compared to the global average of four games. India continues to dominate the Djuzz charts for the most games downloaded, helped in part by the strong localisation of games in this market.

Reebok ZigTech, a game which the brand developed to promote its ZigTech brand of trainers and currently one of the most downloaded games in the country, is currently available exclusively to Indian audiences. The game was localised to suit the Indian market by having features such as a TV commercial showing the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) and wallpapers with Reebok brand ambassadors from India.

“Localisation is one of the key elements required to better engage mobile users and it’s likely that this trend will further develop in 2011”, explains Dr. Lai.

“Furthermore, as mobile marketing continues to mature, it’s vital that brands don’t restrict their strategies to smartphones. Feature phones continue to dominate in many areas and incorporating these handsets within mobile marketing strategies is vital.” This is supported by another trend which is emerging on Djuzz – the development of more local language content besides English, such as Chinese, Korean, Thai, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, to serve the increasing demand from global visitors.