Wednesday news round-up 27/11
William Hill is looking to attract mobile talent to its new technological âcentre of excellenceâ in London’s Silicon Roundabout as it steps up in-house mobile development. Despite strong growth in mobile sportsbook, with turnover up 115% year on year in Q3, it has yet to replicate that success in mobile gaming. Hills online managing director Andrew Lee said the Shoreditch office would give it the “best possible chance to anticipate and prepare for future developments”.
Gala Coral reported strong growth in mobile during 2013 after a major marketing push that saw a 46% rise in online gross win and a 9% drop in EBITDA. The Gibraltar-based operator said mobile penetration grew across all sites, with over 50% of UK actives and 30% of Eurobet actives now accessing the sites through a mobile device. Online profits for the 52 weeks ending 28 September 2013 were £25.3m after marketing costs rose 115% to £34.7m.
Exchange operator Matchbook has launched an iOS app that took just four weeks to develop. The mobile launch follows a complete overhaul of its desktop site and is expected to be followed by an Android launch in early 2014. âDue to the recently completed upgrade in our core technology, we were able to develop the iPhone app with a four week turnaround,â Mark Brosnan, Matchbookâs recently installed CEO, said.
Tablets will account for 50% of all PC sales in 2014 and already account for 40% of shipments, according to analysts Canalys. Android-derived operating systems will be responsible for driving growth in the market and are forecast to take 65% share in 2014 with 185 million units. The PC market, comprising desktops, notebooks and tablets, grew 18% in Q3 driven solely by growth in tablet sales and Canalys is forecasting 285 million units will ship in 2014, growing to 396 million units in 2017.
Ladbrokes has signed a deal to co-locate its mobile sportsbook team at UK-based apps developer Chelsea Apps Factory to speed up the development of its mobile offering. The operatpr’s mobile sportsbook team will move to the London office of Chelsea Apps Factory in December to build on the Mobenga mobile platform the firm is due to launch “imminently”. Ladbrokes said the “initial impact” of the new partnership was targeted at the World Cup in 2014.