Global gaming operators looking for new markets to conquer may find there are more opportunities for igaming in emerging markets than developed ones. Asian, African and South American markets all present attractive expansion opportunities for iGaming brands. If your business is looking for global growth, these facts and stats provide some useful background.
A crucial factor in whether an emerging market is viable or not, is Internet usage / penetration. The new 2018 Global Digital suite of reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite, make interesting reading…
Internet penetration in Asia:
Internet penetration in Africa:
Internet penetration in South America = 68%
Although Internet penetration rates are still low across Central Africa and Southern Asia these regions are also seeing the fastest growth in Internet adoption. Internet users in Africa are up 20% year-on-year, with users in Mali increasing by almost 6 times since January 2017.
For many markets, smartphones are driving Internet penetration making digital entertainments and iGaming accessible to people for the first time. Globally, mobile phones have overtaken desktop and laptops to take 52% of web traffic. That’s up 4% on last year. However, in emerging markets mobile web traffic has a much larger share, as the statistics below reveal:
According to data aggregated by mobile marketing company Tenjin, the following 5 countries are the most important for mobile gaming operators:
1: Brazil
Number of mobile game players: 50 million
Smartphone penetration: 37.7%
2: Mexico
Number of mobile game players: 33.8 million
Smartphone penetration: 40.7%
3: India
Number of mobile game players: 244 million
Smartphone penetration: 22.4%
4: Indonesia
Number of mobile game players: 35 million
Smartphone penetration: 20.7%
5: Thailand
Number of mobile game players: 17.6 million
Smartphone penetration: 40.5%
If these statistics have increased your appetite for expanding into emerging markets, it’s important to ensure that you have expert support. There are a number of considerations to address. These include:
E-wallets and payment apps offer gaming customers and global operators a convenient payment method, and are popular in emerging markets. They are particular useful in countries where many people are ‘unbanked’ – where customers do not have a conventional bank account. With the growth in smartphone ownership and Internet penetration many gaming customers are used to making payments using mobile apps like M-Pesa in Kenya. Alternative payment methods, such as e-wallets and payment apps, are an important part of any strategy for processing online payments in emerging markets.
If you would like to discuss any of the subjects touched on above, and specifically about how to reach customers in emerging markets by aligning payment methods with your growth strategy, please get in touch.
You may also like to explore how we have developed our payment app – MuchBetter – specifically for the gaming industry. More here.