Conference organizers in the online gambling industry have their eyes on the vast potential of the Asian Market, as it becomes more and more obvious that the U.S. market has limited potential for online gambling. The legal hassles experienced by BetonSports in the U.S. are a sign of this limited market as well as the effect it will have on online gambling companies.

The mobile gambling, gaming and lotteries market, in particular, is becoming a key product in gaming and gambling company portfolios. While Europe is still leading the way, the tremendous potential of the ultra tech-savvy Asian Pacific market is quickly becoming a point of focus for online gambling companies.

Marvin Tort from Kirschner Games expressed enthusiasiasm about the opportunities that await in the Asian market; “Asia is on the verge of a mobile gaming boom, with major advances in technology and content resulting in new synergies. And with this, mobile entertainment, including gaming, has risen to a new level. Even market expectation is at a new high, as people anticipate far more entertaining and interactive games on any mobile platform”.

Reinforcing this view was states lead speaker at the 2nd Annual Mobile Gambling Summit Asia, Yap Wai Ming from the Stamford Law Corporation. Yap Waj Ming commented: “Mobile gaming technology is moving faster than the law. There is great need for legal consistency across jurisdictions and that is going to be a very big challenge”.

The success of mobile gaming in the Asia region will depend largely, according to Charles Palmer from Mfuse, on connectivity; “There is a substantial difference between running a service over a few handsets, to scaling it to a mass market, multi-language service which is fully supported in the target regions.” Palmer explained that Mfuse focuses extensively on the download and connectivity aspect of mobile gaming.

The conference on mobile gambling will focus on determining the main driver for mobile gambling activity. Some, such as Bruce Gibson, senior consultant with Juniper Research, speculate that lotteries will fuel the industry: “Mobile lotteries don't need 3G networks and are applicable in developing as well as developed markets, and Asia has both."

In the immediate future, companies are focusing on defining their legal set-up and the marketing strategies for a region that is very culturally diverse. Michael Setters, Director of the 2nd annual Mobile Gambling Summit – Asia said: “While mobile gambling has not necessarily reached the levels stipulated in various research reports there is undoubtedly a concerted effort by companies to include a mobile gambling product in Asia within their portfolio… We have seen an unprecedented spike in activity of interested companies and the industry has moved beyond the technical issues that once slowed growth…the market is ready, now it is up to gambling companies to take it to the players.”

In addition to Setters, there will be a host of other speakers sharing their views with major online gaming companies such as China Gloria Lottery, Ongame, SportingBet and World Poker Tour at the mformobile 2nd annual Mobile Gambling Summit – Asia in Hong Kong between October 31 – November 1.

Posted on: August 27, 2006

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