Mobile gaming sessions down by 16% in 2017 but users spending more money than ever
Meanwhile, larger high-end mobile devices seize 55% of market
Mobile gaming sessions were down by 16% in 2017 according to a report from analytics firm Flurry.
Flurry noted that while mobile gaming saw another year of decline in sessions, users are spending more time and money than ever before in games.
There was also a sizable shift away from medium-sized phones over to larger, high-end devices in 2017. Large screen phones grew to account for 55% of the market, up from 41%, while medium phones saw a decline from 44% to 35%.
This is positive news for augmented reality developers working with Apples' ARKit and Android's ARCore as it demonstrates the install-base for high-end, AR capable phones is growing rapidly.
Mobile usage across the board grew only 6% in 2017 compared to 11% the year prior. Despite this, Flurry found that users spend five hours a day on their smartphones.
Additionally, Apple took a hit to its market share, down from 37% to 34%, thanks in part to the late release of the iPhone X which resulted in a decline across nearly all key markets.
Meanwhile, Samsung remained steady at 28% with Apple's lost share moving over to Chinese manufacturers Huawei and Xiaomi.
Flurry tracks more than one million applications across 2.6 billion devices globally, and app usage is defined as a user opening an app and recording a session.