Inside Asian Gaming

ple, like other Asians, are avid mobile phone users.Mobile phone gaming penetration and mobile gaming growth forecasts are set out in the graphs above and below. Playtech’s mobile product advances its expertise – gaming management – into the mobile gaming world. Full mobile-back- end integration allows players to access the same account from both PC and mobile de- vices, enabling operator control regardless of player channel utilization. The backend comprises the foundation of all licens- ees’ operations, addressing the daily missions of all online gaming operators, from random number generation to af- filiate and web tracking and player base management. Through advanced audio and visual content, Playtech’s mobile software promotes instant player rec- ognition of casino brands and utilizes a fully functional in-game, multi-currency, multi-language wireless cashier capable of supporting the more popular deposit and withdrawal methods. A key factor in a mobile product’s suc- cess is its handset support capabilities.The number of handset models supported by a particular piece of software determines the market potential and client reach of that software. Playtech’s mobile product has been designed to support a wide spectrumof mobile devices fromall of the major manufacturers, from entry-level mass market models to high-end smart phones. In the technologically-driven mobile in- dustry, the capability to quickly adapt exist- ing software to the latest models is vital. New technologies transform not only the look and feel of a product’s design, but also the way it operates. New market opportunities in diverse geographical areas call for a mo- bile product that can be easily configured to support the handsets dominant in that area. Playtech’s forward-thinking policy has pre- pared a global solution for a global market, a flexible mobile product capable of easily fa- cilitating support for both new markets and the latest handsets. The mobile product delivers an ideal player experience through advanced technol- ogy that successfully duplicates the feeling of computer game play to the mobile device. A user-friendly interface guaranteeing easy player navigation is accessed by means of push-buttons on themobile device.A suite of Playtech’s most popular games comple- ments a high game integration rate that quickly merges new game additions into the mobile product, while free practice mode allows players to download games and instantly play for fun with no sign up necessary. Additional highlights include: game play history, online help, high speed game play, real sound effects, and online messages. The combination of mobile handsets and online gaming demands software se- curity of the highest standard to protect valuable personal information from mali- cious intrusion. Only the highest encryp- tion methods from the worlds of banking, government and finance are deployed by Playtech to ensure that all personal infor- mation is safeguarded. 22 Mobile gaming revenue forecast 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005E 2006E 2007E 2008E 2009E 2010E 2011E 2012E (US$b) 155.7 38.3 39.0 58.8 92.2 31.6 50.8 46.1 23.2 21.4 11.8 10.1 8.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.4 1.6 2.8 4.0 5.0 6.0 6.7 7.4 8.0 Source: Global Betting and Gaming Consultants Mobile gaming penetration by region 2010E ROW 9% North America 13% Europe 42% Asia 36% Source: Informa Telecoms & Media