EA Mobile earned $70m in a quarter

A quarter of all digital revenue.

The firm's Q3 financials for the three month period ending December 31st weren't great overall. EA made a loss of $205m on sales of $1.061 billion (although the loss was smaller than the $322 million in Q3 FY11).

But within this, mobile shone, full repaying the firm's commitment to the channel in recent years.

That strategy started when it bought Jamdat/Tetris in 2006 and stretched all the way to its move for Popcap last year. The latter deal followed EA's earlier purchase of social games publisher Playfish, and the decision to snap up mobile studio Firemint.

During the quarter, smartphone sales were $70m, up from $59 million in the same quarter a year earlier. And across the calendar year, EA Mobile's revenue was $268 million.

EA fared less well in the beleaguered handheld space. Indeed, the company’s total revenue from mobile and handhelds was down 24 per cent year-on-year to $99 million.