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Analyst Profile Detailed
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Lewis Ward
Research Manager, Consumer Markets

Team: Digital Marketplace and New Media
Mobile and Wireless
Lewis Ward is a Research Manager in the Consumer Markets group based at IDC's headquarters in Framingham, Massachusetts. His area of coverage includes the worldwide evaluation and forecasting of opportunities, threats and trends in the console, personal computer and handheld/mobile gaming industry. Software, hardware and service aspects are examined in his advisory service, within the context of the broader consumer electronics space. A long-time enthusiast who developed a text-based game in BASIC for use on the Apple II in middle school and ruled the roost at Joust in the mid-80s, Mr. Ward brings more than two decades of game-related experience to bear in his current role. Since attending his first E3 in Atlanta in 1997, he has written about and/or played countless hours of FPS's, adventure games, and a variety of other genres –though a piece of his heart still belongs to Lara Croft.

Connected console gaming and community services are a significant focus of his program, as are the innovative and increasingly immersive input mechanisms. Online PC software are service uptake and revenue are also considered, informed by primary survey research. Regional distinctions allow game publishers and developers, hardware vendors and other ecosystem constituents to refine their strategies using the latest actionable intelligence.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Ward covered mobile entertainment, including gaming, music and TV/video, at IDC from 2004 to early 2009 (spanning service provider, content developer and device perspectives). An award-winning author and frequent lecturer, his work has been featured in many industry-leading publications and Web sites. He was promoted from Senior Analyst to his current position in 1Q06. Before joining IDC, Mr. Ward was an analyst at Collaborative Strategies, a San Francisco-based management services firm from 1998 to 2004. He received a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994, loves basketball, and spent a year in Spain while in college where he learned to enjoy tapas while discussing the finer points of Gaudí and Picasso.


IDC Links more

Valuing Gaming Communities
Lewis Ward
Dec 2009 - Doc # lcUS22144409      IDC Link
Though it's easy to overlook in the age of the Internet, communities are ultimately about connecting people. This holiday season, Nintendo put together a kind of senior citizen road show, which is part of a broader effort to expand the size ...
Social Online PC Gaming Gets Serious
Lewis Ward
Jun 2009 - Doc # lcUS21914209      IDC Link
It's remarkable just how quickly the number of people playing free social network–oriented games has grown in recent months. Take Facebook as an example. In the company's Games directory, there are now about 50 titles that claim at least a ...

Analyst Research more

Consumer Predictions 2010: A New Day, A New Decade, Is Dawning
Danielle Levitas, Elizabeth Curtis, Greg Ireland, Jonathan Gaw, Karsten Weide, Lewis Ward, Richard Shim, Scott Ellison, Susan Kevorkian, Amy Lind, Bob O'Donnell, Irene Berlinsky
Feb 2010 - Doc # TB20100204      Event Proceeding
A year ago, most of us felt the sky was falling. But things are more stable today and many regions and products and service segments are showing growth in consumer IT spend. Demand for consumer electronics in 2009 proved to be ...
Worldwide Connected Console 2009–2013 Forecast and Analysis: Channeling the Internet onto the Family Room TV
Lewis Ward
Dec 2009 - Doc # 220826      Market Analysis
This IDC study details the worldwide online console gaming market from hardware, software, revenue, and customer uptake perspectives. Based on survey research and in-depth discussions with console OEMs, game developers, and oth ...
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Appearances

Consumer Predictions 2010: A New Day, A New Decade, Is Dawning
Framingham, MA United States
February 04, 2010

IDC at CTIA Wireless 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada United States
April 02, 2009