Subscribers don't need an iPhone to play mobile games

We know a lot about the kinds of applications iPhone users like--last month, as the App Store closed in on the 1 billion download benchmark, Apple issued lists of the 20 most popular premium and free App Store downloads of all time. We've typically known far less about the kinds of applications the millions of other AT&T subscribers favor, although we do know their interest in mobile data continues to increase: When AT&T reported its Q1 earnings results in late April, postpaid data ARPU increased to $16.48, up 26.8 percent compared to year-ago totals. In all, wireless data revenues grew 38.6 percent to $3.2 billion, representing 27.2 percent of AT&T's wireless service revenues for the quarter.

AT&T credited the data revenue growth to increases in messaging, Internet use and email, as well as access to applications and related services. This week, the carrier offered deeper insight into its subscribers' data usage by counting down the first quarter's top applications in terms of new sales, and it seems the average AT&T customer exhibits the same basic interests as the iPhone user subset--i.e., a decided preference for fun and games. According to AT&T, its AT&T Navigator service topped all other applications in Q1 sales--the app, which supplies audible and visual turn-by-turn driving directions as well as a host of related GPS-based features including a national business finder and lowest-price fuel finder, has ranked among the top 10 best performing apps each quarter since its launch a year ago. From there, however, the list is long on entertainment, not utilities: The top 10 also includes AT&T Mobile TV, Napster Mobile, XM Radio Mobile, MobiTV, music discovery solution Shazam, ringtone creation app Make-UR-Tones and music video service MobiVJ.

AT&T created a separate list for Q1's bestselling games, topped by perennial blockbuster Tetris. While the iPhone remains the premier mobile gaming device--the App Store now offers close to 9,500 games, representing nearly 22 percent of all iPhone and iPod touch apps, according to application analytics platform Mobclix--a new consumer study conducted by research firm Information Solutions Group on behalf of casual games publisher PopCap Games indicates gaming's popularity extends across AT&T's subscriber population. ISG reports that 57 percent of all AT&T wireless subscribers now play mobile games--52 percent of them cite "distraction from daily life issues" as the top benefit derived from mobile gaming, followed by "relaxation and stress relief" (40 percent) and "improved mood" (12 percent).

Best of all for AT&T's data revenue prospects, the ISG report suggests that gaming is poised for additional growth. A third of all mobile gamers said they were "somewhat or very likely" to purchase a mobile game in 2009, and among frequent gamers, the likelihood is significantly higher: Half of those who play between one and three times per week, and 75 percent of those who play daily, say they're likely to purchase one or more mobile games this year. Sure, AT&T's MEdia Mall content storefront doesn't offer a fraction of the applications available to iPhone owners via the App Store, but it looks like even phones without accelerometers can still shake up consumer attitudes about mobile games. -Jason