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With Korea and Japan accounting for the vast majority of games download revenues today, it is estimated that Western Europe and North America are around two to three years behind the Far East in terms of games handset penetration.

The reason for this, reports Reuters, is the confusing raft of tariffs currently charged by European mobile operators. The study suggests that they are depressing growth in its early stages.

'We think the mobile operators in Europe have not yet got the strategies right to exploit this market to its full potential,' the news agency quotes Screen Digest's chief analyst, Ben Keen, as saying.

Another finding, however, is that despite North America having a less sophisticated mobile phone market than Europe or Asia, it is expected to become the fastest growing region in terms of revenues generated.

The report has been produced by Screen Digest, a business intelligence company.

Only last week Nokia announced plans to simplify the delivery of content to mobile users, via the Preminet framework, as a means to maximising revenues from games and other application - Nokia plans one-stop content shop for mobile networks.