According to comScore’s MobiLens® and Mobile Metrix® data, smartphone penetration in the U.S. is now over 75 percent as of early this year, with some 184 million Americans owning typically either an Android (53.2 percent) or Apple (41.3 percent) based platform. On top of this, the industry saw over 1.3 billion devices shipped globally last year and estimates run upwards of 1.45 billion units to be shipped this year. With more and more Americans buying in as unit prices continues to drop, after having already declined by around 25 percent over the last four years, the market for content delivery solutions is set to explode even further, as prices are set to fall further, to around $424 on average by 2017, according to recent data compiled by Citibank.
International Data Corporation numbers for Q1 this year show over 334 million smartphones have shipped worldwide, a 16 percent jump from the same interval last year. The Pew Research Center recently noted that, as of this year, for the almost two-thirds of Americans who now own smartphones, these devices are vital for them when it comes to getting online. In fact, 10 percent of those surveyed indicated that, while they own a smartphone, they have no broadband at home. An even wider margin of 15 percent said they had limited options for going online other than their cell phone.
Consider in addition to these broader smartphone usage metrics that the U.S casino and “racino” gaming market’s revenues did a combined $8.5 billion last year, according to data from public policy research institute, the Rockefeller Institute of Government. As well as analysis from professional consulting firm RubinBrown out earlier this year, indicating that the nation’s gaming industry on the whole generated a record high of over $68 billion from all sources combined, and you have the outline of a perfect storm for mobile compliance gaming, a sector where Consorteum Holdings (OTC: CSRH) is already way out ahead of the trend. CSRH is focused on bringing to market an updated version of the world’s first regulatory-compliant mobile content delivery platform, which was designed to deliver any digital content, across any cellular network type, to any mobile device or smartphone.
The RubinBrown report, pooled from over 1k gaming operators across 39 states, which harnesses information from all four segments of the gaming industry, also noted how online gaming has been and continues to be a major growth driver of the industry’s record performance. Morgan Stanley has even forecast an upper limit of around $5.2 billion for the online gambling industry within the next five years, citing the over $11.2 million combined monthly revenues from the first three states to legalize, New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. California is seen by many analysts as the next logical state to jump in, with the legalization of online poker potentially occurring this year and bill AB 431 currently keeping the issue alive, as a major lobbying effort is put forth by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, in conjunction with the largest online poker cardroom in the world, the 50 million subscribers plus and growing, PokerStars.com. Poker has become more and more popularized in the U.S. in recent years, with shows like High Stakes Poker on Game Show Network and the World Series of Poker being broadcast on ESPN having primed the pump for more widespread approval.
Needless to say, when the rush finally hits, you are going to see huge numbers of companies clamoring to catch up and execute attractive solutions that can hit as many mobile devices as possible, and the cost and complexity issues they will face spells big business for Consorteum Holdings. The company’s Universal Mobile Interface (UMI) platform is more than just a way to develop once and deploy anywhere, enabling content developers to bypass the updating and versioning costs typically associated with a mobile app that wants to land on as many devices as possible and yet stay fresh with new, periodically-released content updates. The UMI is a fully vetted geo-location and geo-fencing enabled solution that ensures end-users can only authenticate a session from within a jurisdiction approved by regulators, because it is based on the CAPSA platform licensed from NYG Holdings, which has already successfully run the extremely meticulous Nevada Gaming Board gauntlet.
The UMI platform elegantly identifies the user’s device, delivering content via cloud technology in the proper resolution and display format, irrespective of particular device type. This is a solution that frees developers from the cost and difficulties of having to push patches and build/update different versions of their apps for different devices. CSRH’s solution also satisfies all relevant regulatory, licensing and policy compliance issues, and even provides a high level of fully compliant security capabilities. Indeed, UMI could be just the Apollo program this yet-nascent industry needs to go off-world, providing the delivery system required for developers to be able to access real creative freedom and bridge the gap in areas like poker, where there has historically been a major divide between live versus online. Given that the industry is still so small, that only about one quarter of Americans still find gambling taboo and that currently Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are all considering legalizing online gambling, Morgan Stanley’s projections (which assume some 20 states will legalize online gambling by 2020) seem well within reason.
There is a great deal of room for CSRH to grow here and the company is prepping to capture substantial market share in the mobile sports betting and casino gaming verticals moving forward, confident that numerous states will see the swollen coffers from the associated taxes as a sure thing that is well worth betting on. Recent analysis indicates that online poker alone would create some 10k high-tech jobs nationwide and generate over $2 billion a year in tax revenues for state and federal governments. American Gaming Association data about the global online gaming market indicates that roughly $35 billion in bets are currently placed each year across 85 countries that have legalized the industry’s practices, clearly showing how big the potential market is that states are currently missing out on collecting taxes from.
Consorteum Holdings’ UMI platform is a superb target for developers to choose here as the regulatory environment changes. With a sophisticated suite of layered, inter-dependent player and device controls that cover everything from the aforementioned geo-location verification capabilities that can’t be spoofed by jailbroken devices, to real-time mobile or Wi-Fi data bearer controls and comprehensive auditing/reporting, the UMI is a platform that will satisfy developers, regulators, and gamers alike. Designed from the ground up as the ultimate in cost-effect mobile compliance gaming delivery engines, UMI stands poised to revolutionize developer workflows, bringing feature-rich, gorgeous gaming content to millions of mobile users.
For more information, visit www.consorteum.com
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