Predicts 1.27bn 'game-capable' handset sales this year.
A few years ago, suggesting that mobile games posed any threat to Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS would have provoked widespread laughter.
Not so much now. A new report from iSuppli claims that 1.27 billion 'game-capable' phones will ship in 2010, up 11.4% from 2009's 1.14 billion.
By contrast, handhelds are expected to sell 3.9 million units this year, while games consoles will ship 52.3 million units. We'll get to the caveats on this comparison in a bit.
"The formidable lead enjoyed by cell phones capable of gaming will continue in the years to come with no hint of decline, and their near-universal presence gives them the potential to become a viable competitive threat to dedicated gaming platforms, primarily handheld devices," says Pamela Tufegdzic, of iSuppli.
However, much depends on how you define a 'game-capable' mobile phone. The 1.27 billion figure means iSuppli is including feature phones - J2ME and BREW - alongside smartphones.
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Yet it's only the latter category that could be perceived as a threat to handhelds, and it's about more than pure unit shipment numbers - the quality of digital game stores is a big factor too.
