The Apple iPhone was good news for consumers who wanted all the bells and whistles of a high-end mobile device, but its lack of a distribution platform was bad news for mobile game developers in 2007.

The mobile gaming industry saw only 2 percent growth from 2005 to 2007. Some experts blame Apple for limiting the applications users can download to the iPhone, which sold more than 1 million units in the United States.

"It hindered the sale of mobile games on that particular device, but if you look at the industry as a whole, it was not a detriment," said Nicholas Reichenbach, vice president of Magmic, Ottawa, Canada.

"Mobile game publishers don't support all mobile devices anyway -- most could make up market share by selling on other devices," he said.

Apple currently offers 109 Web-based gaming applications. For now, the only officially allowed development is Web-based Javascript.

But the fact that Apple has not allowed game applications on the iPhone was only a short-term strategy. Apple will be announcing the release of an SDK for its iPhone platform soon, with the official release of the SDK scheduled for mid-February.

Magmic is already developing two games for the iPhone: Phase 10, the second-most popular card game in the U.S., and Boulder Dash, a popular retro-art game.

Handmark will also be announcing its first tentative foray onto the iPhone platform with Pocket Express travel, an ad-supported free product that is the travel version of Pocket Express offering hotel bookings and 24/7 registration services.

"We've not heard the last word from Apple on what they will allow third-parties to sell on the platform, but it is such a robust platform that we know it can be done," Mr. Edwards said.

The entire mobile experience as a vehicle for marketing to people is new, but it's also moving very rapidly. While companies are busy building audiences in the mobile sphere, the ultimate decision is whether to monetize by selling advertising, content or both.

It's a decision that Apple will also have to make. Whether it will add games via the iTunes store model or open up the platform to enable carriers to sell through their WAP deck remains to be seen, Mr. Reichenbach said.

"It's already possible to buy music from iTunes, so it's not impossible to see them selling other content, like they do with their online store," Mr. Edwards said. "I'm not predicting it, but I think we can expect it."