Please email fp@technomics-international.com for a copy of this report.

1. Whether it is Babar Ahmed whose Mindstorm Studios created Cricket Revolution™ – the first PC
game produced by a Pakistani gaming outfit to sell in retail stores internationally – and recently
launched the official game of the ICC WorldCup 2011; brothers Rizwan and Irfan Virk whose
GameView Studios created the successful Tap franchise and was recently acquired by Japanese
social gaming giant DeNA; Hasan Rizvi whose Pepper.PK made history by developing two top-
ranking paid BlackBerry applications at BlackBerry’s AppWorld store; Murad Akhtar who left
Stanford and Silicon Valley to form Tintash, dedicated to creating innovative casual games designed
for the iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms; or Umair Javed of TkXeL who prides himself in creating
not one but two 100% "Made in Pakistan" mobile applications and gaming companies from a
university lab in Lahore, Pakistan’s mobile, gaming, and animation scene is increasingly a hotbed
of a new generation of exciting entrepreneurs seeking their fair share in the riches and prosperity
of a new age of infotainment, and in the process making a point to the rest of the world.
POWERING
THE WORLD OF
INFOTAINMENT
A Snapshot of Pakistan's Mobile,
Gaming, & Animation Industry

2. "Aristotle said, 'Quality cannot be an act, it's a habit'. After many years and many
projects I've come to continually realize for this to be true with Sharp Image"
- Director, Dream Team Films
Yet, this new generation of entrepreneurs is only part of a larger group of global entrepreneurs
COMPANIES PROFILED IN THIS BROCHURE riding upon and creating a new wave of innovation and entrepreneurship.
A piece of the global action
MINDSTORM STUDIOS--------------------------------- P1
GAMEVIEW STUDIOS------------------------------------ P1
Pakistan’s mobile, gaming, and animation industry – not unlike many of its peers – has
PEPPER.PK----------------------------------------------- P1
ridden the “new media” revolution of the twenty-first century driven by three defining
T I N TA S H - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P 1 events the launch of Toy Story by Pixar in 1996 and the coming of age of the digital
T K X E L- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P 1 entertainment and animation industry; the launching of Facebook in 2004 and the social
GENITEAM----------------------------------------------- P4 networking bonanza that ensued; and the launch, in 2007, of the iPhone which has since
FOLIO3--------------------------------------------------- P5 sold over 100 million devices pushing to mainstream the smart mobile devices industry.
SMONTE TECHNOLOGIES------------------------------ P5
POST AMAZERS----------------------------------------- P6 Pakistan’s IT and Software industry is now a relatively well-established tier-2 player (behind
SHARP IMAGE------------------------------------------- P6 India, China, and Russia) in the global IT industry. With over $2 billion of overall IT market
S M S - A L L- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P 7 size – and more than $750 million in exports1 – the industry has come a long way, and has
AKN MTECH (M3 TECH)-------------------------------- P7 been gradually coalescing around a fast developing eco-system designed to deliver quality
CONVERGE TECHNOLOGIES--------------------------- P7 and innovation. The recent downturn in the global IT and software industry has further
VA H ZAY- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T 1 focussed energies on the new and emerging sub-sectors – such as mobile, gaming, and
E VA M P & S A A N G A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T 1 animation – growth has remained largely unaffected by the worldwide recession.
MOOBILA------------------------------------------------- T1
A 2010 Study by Pakistan Software Export Board
(PSEB) – the Government entity responsible
OTHERS:
for supporting and promoting exports of
P A K I S TA N S O F T WA R E E X P O R T B O A R D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P 2
IT and software from the country – hailed
P A K I S TA N T E L E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S A U T H O R I T Y- - - - P 2
mobile, gaming, and animation (MGA) as
P A K I S TA N S O F T WA R E H O U S E S A S S O C I AT I O N - - - - - - - P 8
“the most exciting change sweeping across
G A M E D E V E L O P E R S G R O U P O F P A K I S TA N - - - - - - - - - - - P 8 Pakistan’s IT industry.” A number of global
and local factors contribute to this trend,
not the least important of which is Pakistan
being home to one of the largest mobile
subscriber base in the developing world
– if not globally. As per the latest
published by the Pakistan
Telecommunications Authority (PTA), there
are more than 97.3 million mobile
subscribers in Pakistan – a figure that
translates to more than 59% of the
country’s population, and over 100% of all
qualified potential subscribers (excluding
people too young to own a mobile device).
Although, the penetration
02

3. of smart phones is considerably less (around 1%) it is growing. The falling much of an advantage. Technological novelty puts much premium on the
prices of smart mobile devices, and better access to wireless Internet and ability to quickly learn and adapt, and the real advantage comes from
broadband is likely to only hasten the trend. creativity and innovativeness.
2
Another important factor in the growth of the mobile, gaming, and That’s where this new generation of entrepreneurs is placing its bets.
animation (MGA) industry in the country is a critical mass of well-qualified A sizeable number of companies have cropped up to take advantage of
and quite “adaptable” technical and creative talent and a fast growing the opportunities presented in this exciting space, and more are coming
supply of entrepreneurs with strong linkages to key markets – either up almost every day. Some of the more salient ones – focusing on a range
directly or through Diaspora networks – in the United States, United of domains and platforms – are depicted in Table-1.
Kingdom and Asia. Many of these critical capabilities have been amply
displayed in the early successes of Pakistan’s leading players in mobile,
Enter the world of mobile applications and gaming
gaming, and animation industry.There is an increasing appreciation that
cross disciplinary 'left brain - right brain' collaborations are critical to
One of Pakistan's first - and certainly the most successful - company to
excellence in this area," says Zia Imran, the managing Director of Pakistan
jump on this bandwagon was CambridgeDocs (whose mobile gaming
Software Export Board (PSEB). Zia is pushing hard for greater collaboration
division GameView Studios Inc. has since been spun-off and acquired by
between engineering and art schools in the country.
Japanese gaming giant DeNA). Starting in 2005, GameView Studios Inc.
Unlike the DotCom and the Y2K opportunities, where Pakistan’s IT and created the successful Tap franchise whose flagship TapFish has had 10
software industry lost out on the first movers advantage, the opportunities million+ downloads on the Apple Appstore or iTunes. The recently launched
presented in the mobile, gaming, and animation space are ones where Tap Jurassic - the newest in this series - allows players to build and manage
Pakistan has been quite well-positioned to take advantage. The relatively their very own dinosaur inhabited theme parks, complete with
short life-span of the opportunity necessitates that history will not be Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Pterodactyls and over 40 other prehistoric
animals. In its first 10 days since launch, Tap Jurassic clocked more than
COMPANIES DOMAINS & SPECIALISATIONS PLATFORMS 1 million users, 6 million play sessions, and an average 3 logins per player
Social Games iPhone and Android per day2
GameView Studios
Mindstorm Studios PC Games, Mobile Games, Architecture and Exterior PC, iPhone, iPad, Android
Visualisation Services “We are thrilled with the success and longevity of the whole Tap Fish
SharpImage Advertising, 2D and 3D Character Animation, 3D Asset TV, DVD, Cable franchise,” says Riz Virk, co-founder of GameView Studios. “Our goal has
Development, Visualisation Services always been to build really high quality sticky social games. One reason
TkXel Mobile and social games, social media and infotainment iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm, Facebook, Titanium for the success of Tap Fish is that people think of these fish as their pets,
applications, enterprise dashboards
enjoy caring for their fish, watching them grow, and showing them off to
Tintash Casual Games, Utility Applications iPhone, iPad, Android, Facebook
their friends.”
GenITeam Social Games, Business Applications, Educational Games iPhone and Android
Folio3 Sports Games, Virtual Worlds, Casual Games, Enterprise Flash, Facebook, Android, iPhone, iPad,, and HTML5
mobile apps
Converge “Traditional” digital content for multiple mobile and web Mobile, Digital Kiosks, IVR, Web
"Tintash took my idea from a plan on
Technologies platforms, multichannel activation campaigns
SMS-all Group SMS based networking, information sharing, and Mobile SMS
paper to finished app in 3 weeks! They
advertising platform were with me every step of the way,
Vahzay Enterprise Software, mobile games and applications, web, and iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android, Facebook, and Web
social media
Smonte
working together to make a great
Games, Embedded systems, VOIP, Infotainment, productivity, Apple, Android, Blackberry, Win Mobile, Symbian, Palm, Bada,
and Digital mapping J2ME, Java TV product. They are clearly experts in their
Pepper.PK Games, productivity, and infotainment applications BlackBerry, iOs, Android, Windows Phone 7, Symbian, BADA
Mobile, system integration and application development for Linux, Windows field and I highly recommend them!"
Evamp & Saanga telecoms, web and voice content
Moobila Mobile applications and games, cloud computing iPhone / iPad, Android, Windows Phone Source: Technomics' Compila
Table-1: Specialisation and Capabilities of Industry's leading players Source: Technomics' Compilation
- Co-Founder, Seremeres Games
Source: Technomics' Compilation
03

4. COMPANY GAMES FRANCHISES AND INFOTAINMENT ACCOLADES
Table-3: TOP GENRES OF GAMES PLAYES ON SMART MOBILE DEVICES
GameView Studios Tap Series: TapFish, TapRanch, TapMall, TapJurassic TapFish grossed 10 million+ downloads since FOR 3 MONTHS ENDING FEB 2010 US MARKET
launch 1 year ago
Mindstorm Studios Cricket Revolution and Cricket Power Whacksey Taxi Pakistan’s first PC Game sold internationally ICC Total Audience: 13+ yrs old 100.0
World Cup 2011’s official Cricket Game
Number 1 iPhone game in 40 countries Arcade Puzzle 12.9
Tintash Fishing Frenzy 2 million+ downloads since launch 2 years ago
Doodle Toss 750K+ downloads since launch 8 months ago Card 11.9
Stick Cricket Ranked 2nd in paid games in Australia and top-
Seven Wonders, Wordlists, Nitwit Test 10 inUK. Word or number 11.4
th in
GenITeam GangWars Top paid App for Android in Q1 2010, Ranked 7 Casino 7.6
Family Builder, Brain Twister Google Global Android Developer Challenge 2009
Retro Arcade 6.3
Folio3 Secret Builders Over 2 million active and premium users
SoccerWorld and Ice Hockey worldwide Board 5.4
Quiz 3.9
TkXeL Hunting Genre (4 games) 1.5 million+ downloads, Top30 paid game on iStore.
WW2 Beachhead Top3 paid simulation game.
Fighterpedia Strategy 3.7
Top-100 Reference App.
Brief Room Top20 in News Category on Apple App store Sports 3.3
Both products were best selling paid Blackberry
Racing 3.0
Pepper.PK Photo Editor, LED Notifier Apps worldwide with Photo Editor grossing 2
Cricket World Championship 20, Skitrix, million+ downloads Action/adventure 2.5
Battle Olympus
Music/Rhythm 2.3
Moobila iPicEd Consistently among top 50 paid applications in First person Shooter 2.0
MotionSnaps, MediaSlates photography category
Other 1.3
Table-2: Signature Game Francishes and Infotainment titles of Industyr's trailblazers Source: Technomics' Compilation
Source: Comsource Mobilens
While GameView Studios has been somewhat of a trend setter for the these companies are developing their own titles across a range of popular The cost for doing the same in the United States is an order of magnitude
industry, and has had considerable success in transforming the “sticky- genres and successfully publishing them. higher. It is, therefore, possible for a small start-up of 10-12 people with
ness” of its games into financial returns for the company, others are fast a burn rate of $250K a year to develop 15-20 games per year – a number
catching up as well. TinTash – a developer of casual games for the “The key”, says Murad Akhtar of TinTash “is to get the right approach good enough to turn up at least one (perhaps two) “winner(s)” in the
iPhone, iPad, and BlackBerry devices – has had a fair bit of success with and balance for monetisation ultimately through experimenting with course of a year.
Fishing Frenzy (2 million+ downloads) as have TkXeL with its franchise user behaviour and psychology and pricing strategies. This is something
of hunting games (1.5 million+ downloads), and GenITeam with a lot of people around the world are thinking about and experimenting As more and more companies make their mark, critical skills such as
GangWars (Top paid App for Android in Q1 2010). with right now and Pakistani companies are not far behind. A few product development, product life-cycle management, publishing, and
Pakistani companies have figured out the puzzle of monetisation and monetisation will develop and mature within the industry. “Creating
Not unlike GameView Studios, many of these companies began we are all learning from these closer-to-home experiences.” There seems your own product”, says Umair Javed of TkXeL, “is not an easy job. You
operations as software services and outsourcing companies, developing to be a general feeling within the industry that 2011 will be the year of have to re-write the DNA of the entire services company. Only now, after
games on spec for some of the well-known game publishers and brands successful monetisation for a number of Pakistani mobile gaming much hard work, we believe, we are in a position to ‘balance’ the two
from around the world, such as GameZebo, Digital Chocolate, BBC, MTV, companies. within our company.”
Barclays, NBC Universal, Verizon, and PlayFirst, etc. and have only gradually
begun to make their transitions from services to products companies. Pakistan presents an excellent value proposition for mobile game
development. It costs about $15-25K to develop a decent game on a
TkXeL, for example, boasts more than 200 mobile game titles since mobile device in Pakistan, which is broadly in line with India and
creation and 20+ Top-100 credentials for a variety of clients. Increasingly somewhat cheaper than Central Europe.
04

5. As a clear sign of maturity, this transition is now taking place across the Pepper.PK, another noteworthy company, has developed two top-selling First forays into PC games
industry. A lot needs to happen, however, before they could become applications – including a photo editing suite – across all categories and
household names in the global mobile marketplace, but the potential and geographies on Blackberry AppWorld. Mahe Zehra, the Director of In 2009, Lahore-based Mindstorm Studios became the creator of Pakistan’s
promise is quite apparent and well-established. Marketing for Pepper.PK, noted that "Pepper's success on the world stage first internationally retailed PC game. Cricket Revolution™ is quite
with two World #1 BlackBerry apps shows that the level of product quality remarkable in its attention to detail, a rich team selection, multi-player
Games are not the only avenue on the mobile platform that Pakistani and competitiveness in Pakistan is truly second to none." mode, realistic action and a variety of controls to make gameplay incredibly
companies are focussing on. A number of players have seriously looked interesting. Equally remarkable, however, is the story of how its founder
at the broader educational and infotainment markets. Folio3 – judged as Other companies are doing more unconventional things. Smonte Babar Ahmed and the Mindstorm Studios team of developers, illustrators,
one of the Harvard Business School’s All-World Fast Growth 500 companies Technologies, for instance, focuses on the niche market of embedded designers, and artists with no prior experience or expertise in game
development, pulled out a rabbit from the proverbial hat. Not only did
the Mindstorm team self-taught itself on the challenges and intricacies of
designing a PC game but also, unable to afford a modern $200K motion
capture studio, built their own by extending capabilities of low-cost devices
and software to achieve world class motion capture quality. Since then
Mindstorm has offered to make this device available for other game
designers in the country to use.
Building up on its success with Cricket Revolution™, Mindstorm recently
launched Cricket Power – the official online game of the ICC Cricket World
Cup 2011. Cricket Power is the most advanced 3D browser cricket game
developed to date. It features all 14 teams along with official players,
stadiums and kits, and is played directly in the browser. The game is
powered by a superior cricket engine at its core, coupled with a pick-up-
and-play interface to appeal to casual and core gamers alike 3.
Babar Ahmed – Mindstorm’s Founder and CEO – is very passionate about
the potential of game development in Pakistan. He believes that local
game developers face a significantly greater task than their peers in more
developed markets because of deficiencies in the overall eco-system, and
that the companies must learn to tap into, and work with other elements
of the gaming value chain that exist outside the country. “The closer we
go towards the consumer, the less expertise we have in new entrant
countries like Pakistan such as in the critical steps of publishing and
monetisation” This, he believes, will come with experience.
Figure-1: The PC console Game Development Process and Value Chain Source: Technomics International (Adapted from Mindstorm Studio)
Fresh from a gruelling launch of Cricket Power, Mindstorm is currently
in 2010 – has some interesting things in its portfolio. Folio3 has been systems integration with mobile devices. Smonte's clients ship their focusing on the iOS platform. “We’ve done a ‘first’ in Pakistan’s history.
instrumental in creating the online educational platform for SecretBuilders™ hardware to Pakistan for software integration with a variety of platforms. Despite no prior experience, we took up the challenge and de-mystified
– a company with its roots in the Pakistani Diaspora in the Silicon Valley Smonte integrated an engine/throttle device for a Formula One race car PC game development for ourselves. We will put this expertise within an
– which boasts a virtual world for children 5 to 14 years old powered by with an iPhone /iPad that its engineers and technicians could use to appropriate vehicle within Pakistan and now want to focus our energies
a web 2.0 community of children, parents, educators, writers, artists and monitor the progress of the car in real-time. Recently, Smonte worked on towards the relatively ‘low-tech’ but ‘high-impact’ mobile platform”, says
game developers. On SecretBuilders™, children can explore virtual lands, digital mapping systems for iPhone/Android for a client in UK implementing Babar. Mindstorm Studios hopes to launch at least one iPhone title every
undertake quests, play games, maintain a home, nurture a pet, and interact complex algorithms to produce real-time maps used by a UK, Government quarter in 2011.
with their friends. entity.

6. including Mexico and China, among others.
"GenITeam helped us develop a product
Sharp Image is another leading player in the industry providing a range
that helped us attain market leadership
of animation services, including advertising, character animation, 3D asset
development, and visual effects services such as architectural and medical in the mobile educational category. Our
visualisation, etc. More recently, Sharp Image has moved to a greater focus
towards their own intellectual property and character development and customers, senior management and
has launched branded content such as M i l k a t e e r (for TetraPak) and
C O C O M O (for a TV short) – both winning international awards and
investors are extremely happy with
recognition. The company has also been the first to develop Arabic GenITeam's professionalism."
characters such as g u l g u l (a camel).
Over the years, Sharp Image has established a reputation for producing
- Watermelon Express
quality creative content and has developed its own Animation Academy animation industry is also well-positioned to capitalise on the Arabic
to train new talent. Increasingly, a qualification from Sharp Image’s Academy language Gulf, Middle Eastern, and North African market opportunities.
is becoming a seal of approval for professional training sought by other
players within the industry. Sharp Image hopes to considerably expand
this facility to be able to train more widely for its own and the industry’s Mobile Nation – The unfulfilled promise of the
needs. And, with several years of experience to its credit, Sharp Image is domestic market
ready to take on bigger challenges.
While Pakistani companies have made significant inroads into the global
“The key to ultimate success, however,” says Tahir Moosa, the co-CEO of
mobile applications and gaming market, their exploits on the domestic
Sharp Image, “is finance. Over the years, we have developed the capability
front – despite significant mobile penetration – has been quite limited.
to handle projects of any amount of complexity and technical sophistication,
This is explained by considerably less domestic market penetration of
and we have delivered quality with consistency. Developing high-quality
smart phone, lesser purchasing power of consumers, and low levels of
3D content requires considerable investment in human capital and
literacy in the society. At just over US$ 2.5 (estimated in 2010), the average
equipment. It takes about 100-150 people working over 18 months to
revenue per [mobile] user (ARPU) in Pakistan is one of the lowest in the
develop 26 episodes of 22-minutes each for a season. This amounts to
world and is declining4 though penetration continues to increase hitting
an investment in $5-8 million per series.”
79% in 2010. In 2009, Pakistan ranked fourth in the world, behind the
Philippines, the United States, and the United Kingdom in terms of SMS
Industry insiders suggest that a 22-minute episode of 3D animated content
CGI movies and animation: Building upon a culture traffic 5 . According to a report released recently by Pakistan
that costs $360K to develop in the US can be produced for $90K in India
Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistanis sent 151.6 billion
of “story telling” and around $75K in Pakistan. Increasingly – and despite of the labour
messages in calendar year 20096
arbitrage advantages in relatively low-cost countries – even major
Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) and animation is another emerging international studios demand cost and revenue sharing models as
These numbers represent both a set of challenges and an
area of considerable promise in Pakistan. Post Amazers – a venture-funded conditions for working with animation facilities oversees. Sharp Image
opportunity for mobile software and application designers
company created in 2002 – was one of the pioneers in this relatively small seeks to embark upon a major effort to bring in the financial investment
focused on the domestic market. In the short to medium
yet upcoming genre in the country. In its heyday, it provided creative necessary to enhance the profile of its work.
term (2-5 years), perhaps, the market will continue to focus on trying
services from concept to execution, including art direction, broadcast
to get more value-added from non-smart phone subscriber base. This will
design, 3D animation, post-production, sound design etc. Its work has In creating a CGI and animation industry, Pakistan can build upon its rich
be a challenging undertaking as the largest mobile telecommunications
featured in titles such as 'Son of the Mask' and 'Exorcist: The Beginning' local tradition of “story telling.” There are also considerable opportunities
providers compete in an internecine price war in which the happily
and was quite successful in creating several pieces of branded intellectual for locally developed content drawing from this tradition (mythical tales
switching consumer has been the major beneficiary.
property, such as the now famous 'Commander Safeguard' for Unilever, and characters such as Dastan-e-Ameer Hamza, Beer Bul, Alif Laila,
which featured in the first Pakistani 3D animated educational series focused and Umro Ayyar, etc.) that can be designed for the local market. Due
on health and hygiene 4 and was later adapted in a number of countries to the its religious, cultural, and linguistic proximity, Pakistan’s CGI and

7. The “ v a l u e ” in value-added service (VAS) offerings of these telcos has
"The Folio3 team has consistently The party you don’t want to miss
largely been in the form of ringtones, songs, mobile alerts, etc. Up until
now the telecommunications infrastructure has been unable to support exceeded our expectations. It felt as if we Pakistan’s mobile, gaming, and animation industry presents the picture
mobile TV and other forms of live streaming content. of a new frontier for the immense creative energies and aspirations of this
were working with an onshore team. It nation’s hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of talented youth. Like
“In the very short run”, says Umar Saif, “SMS is the key to riches in the
domestic market. The potential of something as simple as an SMS has
was their ability to understand our needs most frontier endeavours, it offers substantial returns in exchange for
some risks. Increasingly, the mobile opportunity is being seen by
not been fully realised in the domestic market.” Umar is a Professor of and keep us engaged throughout the Government planners and industry leaders as something that the country
Computer Science at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) can ill-afford to miss out on.
and the CEO of SMS-all (formerly known as ChOpal.pk) a group text entire process that has resulted in an
messaging service that has sent more than 3 billion SMS so far. SMS-all At a recent event at the country’s leading art school, Zia Imran – the
buys SMS in bulk from leading telcos and provides its 2 million plus exceptional product and a valued partner." Managing Director of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and the Chief
subscribers the opportunity to communicate with self-defined groups Marketing Officer for Pakistan’s IT industry – talked about the need to take
through this medium. A mobile version of eGroups that offers a greater - Product Manager TRUETRAC a plunge in this exciting new world of possibilities, of breaking old moulds
range of possibilities than Twitter, SMS-all has been fairly successful in and doing the extra-ordinary. He urged young art students to shun their
developing traction. “The key challenge”, says COO Idrees Butt, “is guiding dreams of cosy jobs in creative departments of multinational brand
and managing the networks and monetising the interactions that we have Increasingly, though, a more discerning consumer is emerging and is agencies and take the road less travelled. PSEB is planning an
generated”. The company has had a fair bit of initial success in the demanding greater variety, capability, and quality in value-added services
advertising and corporate realms. available to the domestic market. Adnan Lawai, the founder of Folio3,
believes that this class of consumers – although limited in numbers – will
A small number of companies that have made inroads into this market, have the purchasing power equivalent to any similar consumer segment
however, seem to have done fairly well. Perhaps the first company to in some of the more developed small-sized economies such as the Eastern
provide value-added services to domestic mobile subscriber base was European countries of Poland or Hungary. “We need to forget about the
AKN Messaging Technologies (AKN MTECH) – a TMT Ventures company 60-70 million figure and focus our energies on creating content and
listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) – that launched the applications for the 2-3 million target market. If we can somehow
first SMS-based secure mobile payment system in Pakistan in 20047. AKN know the needs and preferences of this market better and
Messaging Technologies – now known as M3 Tech – has also sell to them, we’ll probably do as well as in any small-
acquired licensing rights to Asia’s largest mobile sized European or Middle Eastern country,” he says.
content library (comprised of Pakistani – Urdu
& regional languages – Bollywood, Western, While these alluring possibilities are just around
Arabic, Malay, Chinese and Thai content). the horizon, in the short-to-medium run, though,
to the domestic market is somewhat restricted
Another industry player, Converge by a number of constraints. It will not remain like
Technologies has done well in this forever. Some telcos are already playing with
developing platforms – mobile, IVR, the idea of VAS, although their success in
RIA, and interactive digital kiosks – attracting talented programmers and
and content across a range of applications designers has been limited by what
Pakistani, Bollywood, lifestyle, and they are willing to share. One of the leading
devotional themes and has since telcos is planning the launch of its very own App
served all major telcos in the Store. Bigger changes will require a paradigm
country. Converge has also shift in their thinking to appreciate the market’s
developed proprietary content potential. This then is an opportunity for a visionary
serving platforms (C-Serve) with investor with somewhat deeper pockets to make
specialist modules to connect and an advance into the fastest growing mobile markets
serve the different digital channels. in the world.

8. Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Pakistan Software Houses
Association (P@SHA)
2nd Floor, Evacuee Trust Complex
Aga Khan Road, F-5, Suite 310, Business Centre
Islamabad, Pakistan Block 6, PECHS,
Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92 51 111333666 & +92 51 9204074
Tel: +92 21 3541 8121 & +92 21 3430 4796
Contact: Zia Imran, Managing Director
Email: md@pseb.org.pk
Contact: Jehan Ara, President
Email: president@pasha.org.pk
PSEB is the apex body created by the Government of Pakistan
(GOP) within the Ministry of IT and Telecom (MOITT) and charged
P@SHA is the representative association for Pakistan’s IT and
with promoting Pakistan's exports from IT and IT-enabled Services
IT-enabled services industry. It is a platform for promoting, protecting
(ITES) industry. PSEB does this by hosting and supporting foreign
and developing the software industry in Pakistan. It provides a focal
delegations to conferences and events, match-making and
point of representation to a variety of outside agencies and seek to
networking of Pakistani companies with foreign partners and
find ways to tackle issues confronting member companies and
clients, and supporting international marketing and image-building
provide advocacy for the advancement of Pakistan’s IT industry..
activities.
To learn more about Pakistan's IT Industry, please visit the IT To learn more about Pakistan’s IT Industry, please visit P@SHA
website at http://www.pasha.org.pk
Industry Portal at http://www.IT.org.pk"
incubation “ b o o t c a m p ” that will expect its attendees to develop and References
market a mobile application or game within a six-month time-frame. 1.PSEB, 2010, Pakistan IT Market Study 2010, Pakistan Software Export
Board, Islamabad
Technomics International
Other government agencies and industry bodies such as the Game 2.GameView Studios’ Official Blog: http://gameviewstudios.blogspot.com/
Developers Group of Pakistan (GDGP) and Pakistan Software Houses
93 Century Court
3.http://pasha.org.pk/mindstorm-studios-develops-official-game-for-icc’s- Woking, GU21 6DR
Association of the IT and ITES Companies (P@SHA) are similarly paying
attention. cricket-world-cup-2011/ United Kingdom
4.Research and Markets forecast quoted at
Jehan Ara, the President of Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) http://telecompk.net/2008/11/08/forecast-of-lower-arpu-higher-
sees promise in magical world of digital media and entertainment. “When Tel: +44 1483 901916 | Fax: +44 1483 901925
penetration-for-pakistan-mobile-industry/
I look at the kind of work that startups in the mobile, gaming and animation E-mail: fp@technomics-international.com
5. http://tribune.com.pk/story/103597/much-to-say-the-text-
space in Pakistan have been able to produce despite immense challenges,
it excites me and re-affirms that we are indeed on the verge of a major republic-of-pakistan/
6.http://tribune.com.pk/story/105395/text-messages-prime-source-of- Technomics International is a boutique strategy, policy,
surge into an exciting new world of opportunity. Fortunately, Pakistan has
no shortage of young people. Some have already embarked on this journey. revenue-for-cellular-operators/ and media advisory company. Technomics Media's
They are well on their way. All we have to do now is provide them with the 7.http://telecompk.net/2009/08/12/sms-mobile-payment-pk/ Brand Intellect™ Services provide a unique approach to
eco-system and the support network that they need to flourish, to scale creating differential brand identities for national,
and to grow into global companies.”
regional, and sectoral clients. Brand Intellect™ delivers
“Mobile applications, gaming, and animation provide exciting opportunities
Disclaimer bespoke brand marketing campaigns based on strategic
This document is prepared by Technomics International’s Brand Intellect ™ Service
for the country…” says Zia Imran of Pakistan Software Export Board, “If thought leadership and specialist marketing collateral.
for Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). It provides factual assessment and “ b e s t
you want to change the world, we are throwing a party. That party starts
j u d g e m e n t ” analysis of an emerging, dynamic, and fast changing industry. It is not
today.”
intended as a sole means of advice for making investment decisions and neither PSEB
nor its Consultant assumes any responsibility for the same.
The party has just gotten underway and it is OPEN TO ALL –
both inside and outside the country…