EA Mobile continues to hold its lead in the mobile game segment, with first-quarter revenue up 14 percent year-over-year, to $50 million. Glu Mobile, however, is still struggling.
EA launched 10 mobile titles in the first quarter and 11 new iPhone titles, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour and The Sims 3.
Glu Mobile managed to narrow its second-quarter losses to $6.3 million as its carrier business continued to stabilize. The company expects its foray into new platforms like the iPhone will contribute little to revenue growth next quarter, when it expects its losses to again narrow to between $3.6 million and $3.8 million.
During a conference call yesterday, CEO Greg Ballard said that so far, the launch of non-carrier based app stores by companies like Nokia, LG, Samsung, Research In Motion (RIM) and others have not had a material effect on the business.
Glu launched seven titles for the iPhone during the second quarter.
In July, Ballard announced he is leaving but will stay until a successor is found. Ballard said yesterday it’s difficult to know exactly when the search for his successor will be completed, but there’s a good chance it will happen before the company’s next earnings announcement.
Last week, Paris-based Gameloft reported sales in the first half of the year were up 20 percent from last year. Mobile games activity accounted for 95 percent of sales, with the remaining 5 percent representing console games. The company attributed its increased mobile game activity to success on Apple’s App Store as well as the performance of Java and BREW games. Its strongest growth took place in North America.