Chinese Online Gaming on the Rise

According to a recent study by Analysys International, a world-wide renowned research company, the projected total revenues for Chinese online gambling industry may reach over 68.5 billion yuan (roughly $11 billion) in 2013.

What’s more interesting is the fact that mobile gambling in China operated on smartphones and tablets are growing in popularity at a very high rate, and will soon become the main driving force behind the industry.

According to Chinese gambling news the 2012 early indicators suggest the industry crossed the 56 billion yuan mark (almost $9 billion), offering a very clear view on the extent of mobile device penetration and their influence on total online gambling figures in China.

According to current Chinese gambling laws the only forms of permitted online gambling are various welfare lotteries. Just imagine, how big the market will be if online casinos or poker were allowed. Naturally, Chinese citizens do pursue other activities at offshore sites, mainly illegally.

Analysys predicts that the share of mobile games is bound to skyrocket in 2013 as the smartphone and tablet penetration figures reach a 50 percent landmark. One of the researchers has commented the study: “The sector is expected to maintain a 50 percent annual growth rate over the next three years.”

He went on to add: “The growth rate in the browser games sector is expected to slow over the next three years but will still be able to contribute about 17 billion yuan in annual revenue by 2015.” Note that this year’s revenue was less than 8 billion.