The Pok\u00e9mon franchise is beloved by children around the world, but it\u2019s certainly no child\u2019s play when it comes to bringing in the big bucks.<\/p>\n
Its latest augmented reality game, Pok\u00e9mon Go could bring in an estimated US$3 billion (RM12.2 billion) in revenue for Apple Inc in the next one or two years, brokerage Needham & Co said.<\/p>\n
While the game from Japan’s Nintendo Co Ltd <7974.T>, can be downloaded for free, iPhone users can use PokeCoins to buy additional features.<\/p>\n
A pack of 100 PokeCoins costs 99 cents (RM4.02) in Apple’s app store, but the price can go up as much as $99.99 (RM406.45) for a pack of 14,500. Sales from these PokeCoins will make up a huge bulk of the revenue, the brokerage predicts.<\/p>\n
Needham analyst Laura Martin said the brokerage believes that Apple keeps 30% of Pok\u00e9mon Go\u2019s revenue spent on iOS devices, suggesting an upside to earnings.<\/p>\n
The hugely popular game had 21 million active users in the United States (US) alone as of July 18 \u2013 less than two weeks after going live.<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon Go, which has been rolled out in 35 countries, is also available on Android devices.<\/p>\n
Martin said that Pok\u00e9mon Go\u2019s ratio of paid users to total users was 10 times more than that of Candy Crush. The highly-addictive hit game from King Digital generated over US$1 billion (RM4.06 billion) in revenue in both 2013 and 2014.<\/p>\n
Users in the US are even spending more time playing the game than they are on Facebook or WhatsApp, according to an app analytics firm Sensor Tower.<\/p>\n
Electronics retailers have also seen a bump in sales of mobile chargers and charging cases since the launch of the game.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Apple’s shares had gained 5% in market value, or about US$25 billion (RM101.62 billion), since the launch of the game in the United States on 6 June. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s stock has nearly doubled.<\/p>\n