Entertainment, Games Top Smartphone Content Sales

• Posted: Sunday, September 21, 2008
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• Author: pradhana
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• Filed under: GPS, Smartphone

By Jason Ankeny

Smartphone users are now downloading more games and entertainment applications than any other category of mobile content, according to smartphone content provider Handango. The firm's First Half 2008 Handango Yardstick global trend report notes that games--buoyed by strong sales from brands including EA Mobile and Capcom--jumped from fourth place at the end of 2007 to second place in the current rankings, just behind entertainment.

Handango says that in unit sales, categories focused on "killing time" now surpass applications emphasizing "saving time," i.e. business and productivity apps: Entertainment and games together totaled 42 percent of unit sales during the first half of 2008, followed by business and professional applications at 13 percent. Productivity apps like address books and calendars accounted for 9 percent of sales. A separate Handango survey reports that 86 percent agreed or strongly agreed that smartphone content makes their lives easier, while 76 percent agreed it makes their lives more enjoyable.

Handango reports its content catalog now boasts more than 140,000 entries across various categories--the company added more than 370 developer partners during the first six months of 2008, bringing its roster of developers to over 23,000. The BlackBerry 8830 and BlackBerry Curve were the top two devices adding software in the first half of 2008, with more than 1,000 new mobile applications added to the BlackBerry catalog during this period. "

Ringtones was the most searched term during the first six months of the year, with the top 10 also including "games," "themes," "GPS," "weather" and "music." Ringtones and streaming television applications remain among the best sellers across multiple platforms.

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