China's mobile game market booms in Q1

A little girl presents a new iPad at an Apple store in Qiangdao, Shandong province. China's mobile game market reached a value of 2.16 billion yuan ($352.3 million) in the first quarter of 2013. [File photo by Yu Fangping / Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING -- China's mobile game market reached a value of 2.16 billion yuan ($352.3 million) in the first quarter of 2013, a major tech and Internet information provider has said.

The figure represents a 30.26-percent increase compared with the volume in the last quarter of 2012, according to the results of a seasonal survey released by Analysys International on Friday.

The booming market is largely attributable to the growth of mobile network gaming, gaming which requires an Internet connection.

This has the most potential for driving the overall mobile game market along with the 75.28 million new smartphones sold in the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2013, said Xue Yongfeng, an analyst with the firm.

In the first quarter, mobile network games contributed about 1.14 billion yuan, a 53.17-percent increase compared with the last quarter of 2012, to the whole mobile game market.