The youngest smartphone owners have the highest overall rate for gaming on their smartphones and game the most often, according to new data from Compete.
Under 25s Dominate Smartrphone Gaming
Looking at smartphone gaming trends by age bracket, it becomes obvious that smartphone owners younger than 25 dominate the world of smartphone gaming. A total of 81% of smartphone owners who have not celebrated their 25th birthday engage in smartphone gaming, compared to 76% of smartphone owners 25-44 and only 56% of smartphone owners 45 and older.
Younger smartphone owners also tend to engage in smartphone gaming more frequently than their elder counterparts. Twenty percent of smartphone owners younger than 25 play smartphone games multiple times a day, compared to 15% of smartphone owners 25-44 and 9% of those 45 and up.
The difference is even more pronounced among smartphone owners who game once a day (24% of the youngest owners compared to 11% middle-aged and 7% of eldest). Interestingly, smartphone owners younger than 25 also have a higher rate of gaming once a month than older smartphone owners, but this is probably explained by the overall higher incidence of smartphone gaming in this age group.
Under 25s Add More Games
The under 25 segment has also, not surprisingly, added more games to their smartphones. On average, only 20% of smartphone owners have downloaded more than 10 games. Yet 32% of those under 25 have downloaded more than 10 games.
Women, Men Prefer Different Smartrphone Games
Although women and men share the same top three types of smartphone games, women prefer the top two at much higher rates. Sixty-five percent of women like smartphone puzzle games, compared to 45% of men. A similar discrepancy exists with number two card/casino games (51% compared to 40%).
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However, men like the third-most-popular smartphone game category, strategy, at a slightly higher rate than women (30% compared to 26%). Unsurprisingly, the biggest male-female disparity occurs in sports games (17% of men compared to 4% of women), while women have the most lopsided preference for word games (27% of women compared to 10% of men).
Games Top Mobile App
Games are the most popular mobile application category by far, according to recent data from The Nielsen Company showing 61% of smartphone owners and 52% of feature phone owners reporting downloading a games app in the past 30 days. Weather apps are the next most popular category, downloaded by 55% of smartphone users and 39% of feature phone users.
