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Virtual Goods Sales in U.S. Continue to Grow
The virtual goods market continues to grow with no evidence of a slowdown in sight. In fact, a recent report from Inside Virtual Goods found that the U.S. virtual goods market is expected to hit $2.1 billion in revenues in 2011. Wow! Now that’s some big time bucks. Here at Plimus we are seeing continuous 40% quarterly growth, handling an average of 10,000 transactions a day with new companies signing on daily to leverage the BuyAnyware™ API.
The Inside Virtual Goods report and its findings has been the catalyst for lots of discussion from industry experts and media during the last few weeks. For example, Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat discusses the Inside Virtual Goods report in his article, “U.S. Virtual Goods Market to Hit $2.1 Billion in 2011,” which predicts the continued success and growth of virtual goods through iPhone in-app purchases, massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) and social games, such as the popular Farmville, with social gaming leading the charge. I’m sure everyone has at least one friend addicted to FarmVille and spends hours clicking away to successfully raise their crops by purchasing fertilizer or a shovel. These must-have virtual items cost real money and help drive this growth online.
While FarmVille and Mafia Wars are fun, not all virtual goods revenue comes from Facebook. In 2010, we saw an increase in virtual good sales on the Apple iPhone, Microsoft Xbox Live and Sony PlayStation. These new platforms will continue to expand and help us meet our revenue goals for 2011. Additionally, large brands looking to enhance their online presence are entering the virtual goods market through acquisitions (Disney/Playdom and Electronic Arts/Playfish).
Additionally, Helen Leggart of BizReport.com also states that demand for virtual goods continues to rise and is projected to more than double its sales in 2011 (from the $1.1 billion grossed this year). Of the entire market, Helen comments that Facebook was the fastest growing segment of the virtual goods market last year was with $835 million in sales. Let’s see if that continues into 2011.
What are your thoughts on this discussion? How will sales of the virtual goods market play out in 2011?
Charles Born,
Head of Marketing
| Print article | This entry was posted by Charlie Born on October 19, 2010 at 3:39 pm, and is filed under E-Commerce 3.0. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
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