The average mobile gamer spends less than $1 per month on apps and in-game items, according to research from Interpret.

The company’s GameByte study said that the average spend on games is $0.92 per month, with the spend on in-app purchases being $0.79. This is “significantly lower” than the $3.25 spent by free-to-play massively multiplayer online gamers per month, $4.25 spent on subscription MMO games, or $10.40 spent by players of “traditional home console games”.

It was also said that there is an “uphill battle in converting players into paying users”. Only 47 per cent of mobile gamers paid for a full game over a six month period, with 21 per cent paying for in-game items, Interpret said.

In contrast, three quarters of “traditional retail gamers” paid for a physical console or PC game in the same period.

“In the US, 48 million people are actively engaged in smartphone and tablet gaming, more than double the 23 million playing free-to-play MMOs on PC. But the average spend is so much weaker for mobile games that the two business models generate comparable revenues,” said Jason Coston, senior analyst at Interpret.

The company also said that the challenges “extend to countries that enjoy a strong head-start in microtransaction business models”, such as China and South Korea.