Growth in Mobile Entertainment: Market Valued at $91.45 Billion in 2020 Projected to Skyrocket to $376.8 Billion by 2029
Jul 26, 2024, 16:24 IST
The market value of mobile entertainment is set to quadruple during this decade. A growth from $91 billion to $376 billion was estimated between 2020-2029 by Prophecy Market Insights in a new research report. From radio and silver screens to comparatively smaller televisions and computers, people don’t seem to mind getting entertained on smaller screens. This trend continues, with everything from a Netflix show to playing on a rummy app now accessed on mobile phones.
With entertainment firmly placed in the palm of our hand, the mobile entertainment market is bound to surge in the years ahead. Perhaps nowhere is it more evident than in the gaming industry in India. Be it rummy, poker or fantasy games, more than 90% of gaming in India is mobile-based. What we are looking at in the present times is a mass exodus of movies and web series, music and sports, gaming and live events - to our mobile screens.
What Comprises Mobile Entertainment?
This is not a very difficult question to answer. Mobile phones started as devices for making and receiving calls, sending the occasional texts, and playing ‘Snake’! This was much before the Play Store and Apple Store were set up, handing out apps to us.
Think of all the apps that you use on your phone for recreation and entertainment. Live streaming apps, music apps, social networking apps, gaming apps, infotainment and news apps and so on. Each of these categories has millions and even billions of daily users across the world.
Take social networking apps, for instance. There are at least six social networking apps with more than a billion monthly active users. We are talking about behemoths like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as TikTok, WeChat and Messenger. Then there are the likes of X, Telegram, Pinterest, etc., with hundreds of millions of users. The same goes for music as well. The mobile-first music app Spotify has more than 600 million monthly users. The app created a stir by signing a massive endorsement deal with Football Club Barcelona, getting instant exposure to the club’s 400 million supporters.
Over-the-top (OTT) platforms, too, have a massive subscriber base, none more than Netflix with its 270 million subscribers. Amazon Prime, Disney and Max are other OTTs with more than 100 million subscribers. But how does it add to the growth of the mobile entertainment market, one might wonder. In India, more than 700 million internet users access OTT platforms. 85% of the OTT users rely on mobile networks. And not just in India; more than 70% of youngsters in the US prefer their mobile screen for OTT entertainment.
The Significance of Gaming in this Growth
With gaming apps, the mobile entertainment market has found a match made in heaven. Mobile gaming is estimated to have a market size of over $100 billion. It is expected to grow at a 10.39% CAGR till 2029, touching a market value of more than $165 billion.
The global smartphone proliferation has meant that mobile gaming apps are now accessible to a wider audience. This is evident in a country like India, where the majority of the new gamers are joining from non-metro locations. Notably, smartphone penetration in these locations has been faster in recent years, reflecting a surge in mobile gaming app downloads.
The gaming community has embraced mobile gaming the way fish takes to water. This has left PC and console gaming so far behind that mobile gaming and mobile entertainment are always pushing each other to the pole position.
Why is Mobile Entertainment Growing: An Afterthought
To begin with, mobile-based entertainment is much more affordable than the other alternatives. Buying a smartphone isn’t difficult; there’s one available for every budget. If we speak for India, the internet is affordable too. And available everywhere. And fast (read 5G). So, the table is set. Download your favourite entertainment apps and enjoy!
This has not happened overnight. The preference for smaller screens has been growing during the last decade as well. The last decade saw an 85% increase in the use of smartphones, tablets and laptops for entertainment purposes. Smartphones, in particular, saw a 160% increase during 2010-2020. Factors like the introduction of affordable data packs, better connectivity, faster smartphone penetration, etc., continued to fuel the growth of mobile entertainment in developing economies like India.
It would be unfair to overlook the importance of vernacular content in this regard. Along with affordable data plans and spanking-new smartphones, the rural population also got a taste of vernacular entertainment on mobile screens. Eventually, it triggered multinational OTT giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ to invest heavily in domestic content.
To Sum Up
For gamers, mobile entertainment may be all about playing, let’s say, rummy on a rummy app. But mobile entertainment encompasses an array of entertainment avenues that touches the everyday life of any mobile phone user. The growth of mobile entertainment boils down to the fact that it has now become as indispensable as the mobile phone itself!
