The Survey Says - Only 5% Download Mobile Games

Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury News blogs about a survey from U.K. research firm SKOPOS that finds only 5 percent of mobile phone users have downloaded a game. The survey, commissioned by mobile games company I-Play, cites some of the factors holding back the market including consumer's lack of knowledge of handset features and how to use them, and navigating and finding games on the carrier's network.

You can also add the difficulty of finding a game that works for your specific handset model that I have written about in the past.

The survey also asked users "what might inspire them to play games on a cell phone, respondents said: better prices, free trials, and a friend's recommendation."

As I've mentioned before, the industry (carriers, manufacturers and content developers) needs to do a much better job of helping customers learn how to use their handsets, explore the network, and find and demo content and services. They might want to take a cue from the PC and console games market and bundle CDs or even memory cards with new purchases and/or as a promos in magazines and stores to achieve this...

via Mercury News Interactive