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E-commerce and video game markets are growing “exponentially” across North Africa and the Middle East, driven by new youth-produced content and the mobile revolution, a new study suggested.
The gaming market in the region is expected to almost triple its size, and expected to hit $4.4 billion in 2022 from $1.6 billion in 2014, a study conducted by Abu Dhabi media regulatory body twofour54 and consulting firm Strategy& said.
“Gaming in the region is growing faster than the global average, exceeding even other fast-growing emerging markets such as Russia, China, and South Korea”, Strategy & partner Jayant Bhargava said.
So far, international games from global developers have captured around 90% of the regional market. However, games tailored for local users are likely to increase and capture over 15% of the market in the next 3-5 years.
“Accelerated adoption of mobile technology, evolutions in paid and digital media, and a new wave of unique youth-produced content will be key factors in driving media growth in the region”, it said.
E-commerce will be a “critical source of digital growth”, the study suggested, estimating that the market will soar up by 13% up to 2019 from today’s evaluation of $2.3 billion.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are expected to maintain the currently combined share of the total market at 40%, the study, published amid a media summit that opened in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, suggested.
It also suggested that the audio-visual content market is also undergoing a significant transformation, led by the evolution into paid TV. The study estimates that paid TV will grow at 10.3% a year, compared to the 7.8% for ad-based TV. However, satellite TV still dominates the sector, accounting for over 95% of TV distribution.
