I-play CEO: Handsets will overtake consoles

In an interview with MobileIndustry.biz, David Gosen, CEO of mobile entertainment publisher I-play, said mobile gaming will eventually overtake traditional console play thanks to the mass-market penetration of wireless handsets as well as the broader demographic scope of mobile gamers. "Over 300 million consoles have been sold in the last 25 years, while 800 million phones get sold every year," Rosen said. "Which one's mass market? It has to be the mobile device. 2006 marks the first time that there will be more touch points for mobile gaming than there will for console."

Gosen cited forecasts that call for the mobile gaming market to reach a value of $6 billion by 2010, buoyed by projected annual growth of between 30 and 35 percent. "If you look at who plays mobile games, 50 percent of players are women," he said. "That doesn't happen in console land, so again, we've got a whole range of new players that we can bring into gaming through mobile."

For more of the Gosen interview:
- read this MobileIndustry.biz article