Shocker: Games are most popular apps on iPhone, Android devices

Seriously, what did you expect it be--apps for communicating with people? Please, this is 2011. Nielsen has found in a study that mobile games are the most popularly used apps on mobile devices like iPhones and Android phones.

According to the study, 64 percent of mobile folks have played games on their smartphone in the past 30 days. But what will make the industry folks absolutely salivate is that, according to Nielsen, app downloaders are most willing to pay for games than any other type of app.

If you're EA or Zynga, you've already wiped the drool off of the keyboard--though it is interesting that, as screen size gets smaller, gamers seem more willing to pay, no?

A whopping 93 percent of app downloaders would pay for games, and that's directly inverse with the supposed 1 to 3 percent that pays within social games. No wonder Zynga has released two mobile games, Hanging with Friends and CityVille Hometown, in just under two months.

The thing is, nowhere in this study are in-game, or in-app, transactions mentioned, which are quickly becoming the lynch pin in mobile game creators' strategies. For instance, Capcom launched Smurfs Village for free on iPhone with micro-transactions, and the game has made money like gangbusters ... perhaps too well. At any rate, don't look at your bulky laptop to see of the future of gaming--it's happening in your pocket right now.

[Image Credit: Nielsen, FriskyMongoose]

Are you surprised at all by these statistics? Do you see mobile as the next gaming frontier? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.