There’s no denying it – the digital age is well and truly upon us, and modern technology is amongst one of the few industries that has continued to prosper throughout the economic crisis.
Technology giant Apple, for example, has seen its sales skyrocketing from 1 million units in 2007 to 51 million units in 2014, and this is undoubtedly due to the rise of tablets and smartphones.
While many other industries are taking advantage of this new-found technology from travel companies to banks, there is one particular industry that is thriving from our new found love of apps – the gambling industry.
It might not sound immediately obvious, but casinos are moving with the times and going online. While new land-based casinos are still cropping up regularly, many gamblers who have not fared well on land are reaping the benefits of playing online, from being able to play whenever and wherever to having a free ‘practice play’ without committing to spending any cash.
Smartphone friendly
Online casinos have been in operation for around ten years, but it is only in the last four that they have really taken off, and this is largely due to casino operators taking advantage of our app obsession.
In the USA alone, more than half the population has access to a smartphone. In a Google survey conducted in 2013, it was revealed that 56 billion smartphone apps were downloaded, cementing the fact that we are a nation that lives our lives according to these handy little applications.
Moreover, the statistics concerning gambling apps are perhaps even more impressive. In 2011, mobile gaming took 9% of the total revenue spent on games, which made a total revenue of $5.8 billion. This is a figure which is only growing, with the industry expected to double by 2016.
The Google survey also revealed that the app industry made $25 billion in 2013, giving casino operators a huge incentive to make their websites smartphone friendly.
Bingo!
Clearly, with our nation’s obsession with apps and the increase in social media, popular casino games are going to target their games towards smartphone users. Trends in popular games such as bingo are showing more interest from younger players, and the biggest age group for smartphone users is 18-34-year-olds, so there’s no reason why the business shouldn’t thrive from modern statistics.
While technology continues to become more popular than real life, we could soon see the gambling industry taking over some of the biggest industries in America from days of yore.
