Mobile Gambling Revenues to Top $48bn by 2015

Juniper Research has released its report, Mobile Gambling Markets – Casinos, Lotteries & Betting 2010-2015. The report forecasts that a combination of mobile casino, lottery and betting services will see the scale of annual wagers on mobile gambling exceed $48bn (£31bn) by 2015. These service launches in major emerging markets are led by China, allied to liberalisation of remote gambling legislation across the US and Europe.

The report studies gambling services on a country-by-country basis. It finds that, in recent years, the Japan Racing Association’s iPAT service has been responsible for the bulk of global mobile gambling transactions, with casino and betting services in the UK accounting for much of the remainder. However, the sharp surge in adoption of the mobile lottery service launched by VODone will help propel China into third place in terms of mobile gambling transactions, Juniper believes.

The US market is poised to see the introduction of its first mobile lottery services in 2011 with state lottery providers anxious to explore new distribution channels as sales from traditional lottery outlets decline. In addition, the report observes that impending legislative changes in the US may herald an opportunity for mobile casino operators in the medium term.

The report provides regional and country-level forecasts for China, Japan and the UK. Key forecasts split by mobile casinos, mobile lotteries and mobile betting include number of users; average monthly wagers; total annual wagers; and annual gross win.

The report also notes that users have eschewed multiplayer mobile gambling apps, preferring to multitask while playing “snacking” applications, and that while Apple has begun to permit gambling apps to be sold via the App Store, the majority of service providers are opting for a browser-based approach.

There’s more information about the report here.