The bar chart illustrates the global sales figures (in billions of dollars) for four types of video games—handheld games, console games, online games, and mobile phone games—over a seven-year period from 2000 to 2006.
Overall, handheld games consistently dominated the market, maintaining the highest sales each year. In contrast, console games experienced a steady decline, while both online and mobile games saw substantial growth, with online games eventually overtaking mobile games toward the end of the period.
In 2000, handheld games generated just under $12 billion in global sales, roughly twice the figure for console games, which stood at $6 billion. While console game sales steadily declined throughout the period—falling to around $3 billion by 2006—handheld games maintained a strong upward trajectory, reaching approximately $18 billion by the end of the period.
Online games entered the market in 2001 with modest sales, but their popularity rose sharply over time. By 2004, they had become the second most popular format, surpassing console games. A similar trend was observed for mobile phone games, which also emerged around 2001. Both online and mobile game sales were equal in 2002 and again in 2004, at around $2 billion and $4 billion respectively. However, by 2006, online games had overtaken mobile games, generating over $8 billion in sales, compared to roughly $7 billion for mobile games.
In summary, the data highlights a clear shift in consumer preferences over the period, with digital formats such as online and mobile games gaining significant traction, while traditional console games gradually lost ground.