Alibaba's Android Mobile Game Platform

Alibaba's Android Mobile Game Platform for Android is the company’s recent offering in the mobility space to its consumers. The Taobao e-commerce platform leverages access to the system. Users are also linked to Laiwang messaging apps, the Game Center in Taobao and the Come Play feature in Laiwang.

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PWC’s recent report outlook forecasts mobile will be the fastest-growing video games sector over the next five years, with revenues increasing from US$8.8bn in 2012 to US$14.4bn in 2017 by a CAGR of 10% as an increasing number of consumers turn to smartphones for entertainment. Consumer spend on console games will increase by a CAGR of 5% from US$24.9bn in 2012 to US$31.2bn in 2017 as Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s rumoured new Xbox console reignite interest in console gaming. That growth will lead to North America overtaking Western Europe to regain in 2014 its number one position in console sales.

The firm also states that China will overtake Japan in terms of size by 2017; in some cases, it has already. This is not the case in video gaming, however, because Japan will retain its position as the world’s second-largest market, at US$13.7bn in 2017, behind the US at US$18.2bn but ahead of China at US$11.4bn.

Online spending will increase by an average of 8% per year over the next five years. By 2017, the online platform will have almost reached parity with consoles; and US$97 will be spent on online games for every US$100 spent on console games.

Market competition for Alibaba is fierce. According to Reuters, Alibaba's platform will have to compete with Tencent, which reported revenue of 338 million yuan ($55.86 million) from mobile gaming in the January-March quarter of last year. Tencent's social messaging app WeChat, which includes games, is used by more than half of all Chinese smartphone users. The number of monthly active WeChat users grew 124 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2013, and figures from domestic app stores showing Tencent's mobile games are also hugely popular.

China Mobile Games Growth looks promising for this year. CIOs and IT are in demand in China. It is predicted that 2014 will be the year of productivity growth and disruption in technology. The rise of labor costs are pressuring the country to compete and improve its productivity levels. Mobile games are being consumed in its e-commerce market.