Singapore Online Gaming Industry to Accelerate Beyond PC-Platform

IDC:'Online gaming market in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region revealed that Singapore totaled US$1.2 million in subscription revenue in 2005, growing by approximately 30% over 2004, albeit from a relatively small installed base. The country's online gaming market is only beginning to mature with offerings beyond traditional PC-based online gaming, where console and wireless online gaming packages renewed focus on delivering enhanced content.

High infrastructure availability and aggressive government initiatives are the two most important factors in positioning Singapore as the region's digital content exchange hub,. These factors are also crucial in marketing online gaming across mobile and console gaming platforms

As the domestic competition becomes more aggressive, the need to create competitive edges will be more pronounced. IDC foresees certain consolidation in the industry, where business strategy and content delivery models need to be realigned in order to enhance capabilities and to be able to meet the demand of online gamers across different platforms.

In 2005, Singapore held a 0.1% market share of the APEJ region's total subscription revenue of US$1.39 billion, where online gaming service providers often overlooked the potential of Singapore for other larger, more robust gaming markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The region's market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21% from 2006 to 2010 reaching US$3.6 billion by 2010. The growth is driven by the rapidly increasing numbers of varied players in the online gamers ecosystem. Telecommunications service providers, online game developers, and even traditional information and communication technology (ICT) vendors are showing growing interest in this fast-emerging market. The region's market is expected to breach the US$2 billion mark by 2007, with the entry of several new countries into the region's online gaming radar, albeit the current lack of commercial values in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Figure 1

Source: IDC, 2006

Size of bubble: subscription revenue in respective country in 2005 in US dollars

Online gaming market in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan Publ 20060620