Games continue to be the most popular app category according to Nielsen research. According to the research, 93 percent of app downloaders - those who have downloaded an app within the past 30 days - are willing to pay for the games they play. In contrast, only 76 percent of downloaders are willing to pay for news apps.

Among smartphone consumers who have played mobile games in the past 30 days, those with iPhones, Windows 7 phones or Android phones are the most likely to have downloaded the games they played, while those with Blackberry phones or featurephones tend to play pre-loaded games. The average mobile gamer plays an average of 7.8 hours a month, Nielsen's research found. Those with iPhones tend to play around 14.7 hours each month while those with Android smartphones play around 9.3 hours per month.