Japanese social gaming company DeNA highlighted its progress in bolstering its position in the mobile space, stating there had been a “steady expansion” in its smartphone content line-up, and that it had strengthened its development capabilities through acquisitions of studios in Sweden and Vietnam.

Separately, the company announced it is partnering with entertainment company Grasshopper Manufacture, to develop and operate social games for smartphones, provided exclusively on DeNA’s Mobage social gaming platform in Japan and other markets.

Set to begin operation in November, Grasshopper will transfer its existing mobile games resources to the new business, which will be called Grasshopper Social Network Services, and DeNA will provide support.

According to DeNA’s second-quarter results presentation (to 30 September 2011), it currently offers 145 browser-based games and 18 apps for smartphone. This combined 163 compares with 991 titles available for feature phone users.

DeNA noted that average revenue per user for smartphone users is “steadily expanding,” driven by users of its browser-based games. Featurephone ARPU is also increasing, although growth here is slowing.

The company said that its “key focus areas” moving forward include strengthening the lineup of its first party and collaborative development titles for Mobage in Japan, and strengthening its first-party and “popular iOS titles” lineup for Mobage globally.

DeNA split its development arms into several tiers. Its DeNA, ngmoco and Gameview Studios businesses form its “core” activities, targeting “app-based smartphone games, mainly for casual and light gamers.” The Punch Entertainment and Atakama Labs units also contribute to this, as well as creating additional products under their existing game design regime. Finally, its DeNA Sweden site, plus joint ventures such as Grasshopper SNS and BDNA (with Namco Bandai), are targeting high-quality apps, including the creation of new products.

The company is also continuing the rollout of its Mobage platform globally, shifting from a beta release to the full version, and starting the subscriber acquisition process.