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Mobile gaming will explode globally over the next three years, a study has revealed.

The global mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $3bn by the end of this year, according to market research firm Juniper Research.

And the UK-based firm claims that the global mobile entertainment industry will be worth more than $10bn by 2009.

Juniper Research says continued growth in mobile subscriber numbers, changing demographics and falling games prices is driving the market.

The Asia Pacific region has dominated the market since its inception, with Japan and South Korea leading the way.

Bruce Gibson, Juniper Research: "I think mobile games have come of age. They are no longer the poor relations of console and PC games."

Asia Pacific is forecast to contribute about 39 per cent of cumulative revenues by the end of 2011, while North America is expected to make up around 22 per cent.

Games that utilise the inherent strengths of the mobile platform, rather than try to replicate console, or PC games on a small mobile handset will be the most successful, Juniper Research noted.

The study also found that female players are becoming increasingly interested in mobile gaming.

Bruce Gibson, research director at Juniper Research, said: "I think mobile games have come of age. They are no longer the poor relations of console and PC games. They are a different family of entertainment products with its own family characteristics.

"The casual games sector is going to be the market driver, even though it may not be at the leading edge of mobile games technology. Casual games make most use of the inherent advantages of the mobile platform. People want to fill ‘dead time’ with easy to use, but fun games. This is the same in just about every culture."

He added: "A lot of market and media focus is currently on mobile music and TV. However Juniper believes that over the next three to five years mobile games offer almost as much revenue earning potential for service providers as mobile music and mobile TV."

The global mobile gaming sector will bring in about $57bn over the next six years, the report added.