iPad to help push tablet gaming past $3 billion by 2014

The new iPad just launched and quickly sold three million units, and it's another sign of how ubiquitous tablets are becoming. In fact, Juniper Research sees tablet gaming revenues soaring in the next few years, climbing from $491 million in 2011 to $3.1 billion by 2014.

And while the research firm expects the spend on tablet games to increase, accounting for a third of overall mobile games revenues by 2016, the side effect will be that mobile games revenues on featurephones will halve over the next five years.

It's a lucrative market because the consumers buying tablets tend to have more income at their disposal.

"Tablets are expensive devices, typically retailing for around $500 with none of the subsidies from operators that are seen on smartphones. Owners tend to have a higher disposable income than the general smartphone user base. Thus they often spend more on game downloads and on in-game items than other demographics," explained Juniper.

Report author Charlotte Miller also noted that the tablet "is the perfect device for playing mobile games - the screens are large enough for the user to see the action, no matter how big their hands are."

As for the types of games driving revenues, while there has been a push towards more core gaming (like Infinity Blade), the bulk of sales will still come from social and casual games, Juniper said.

The full report is available for purchase here.