Apple to make $3bn in revenue from Pokémon Go, say analysts

Apple stands to rake in $3bn in revenue from the Pokémon Go craze in the next one to two years as gamers buy “PokéCoins” from its app store, according to analysts.

The augmented reality game, published by Niantic in partnership with Nintendo, can be downloaded for free but iPhone users can use PokéCoins to buy additional features.

A pack of 100 PokéCoins costs 99 cents in Apple’s app store, but the price can go up as much as $99.99 for a pack of 14,500.

“We believe Apple keeps 30% of Pokémon Go’s revenue spent on iOS devices, suggesting upside to earnings,” Needham & Co brokerage analyst Laura Martin wrote in a client note on Wednesday.

Pokémon Go had 21 million active users in the United States alone as of 18 July – less than two weeks after going live.

The game, which has been rolled out in 35 countries, is also available on Android devices.

Martin said Pokémon Go’s ratio of paid users to total users was 10 times that of Candy Crush, the hit game from King Digital that generated more than $1bn of revenue in both 2013 and 2014.

Users in the United States are spending far more time playing the game than they are using Facebook or WhatsApp, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

Electronics retailers have also seen a bump in sales of mobile chargers and charging cases since the launch of the game.

Up to Tuesday’s close, Apple’s shares had gained 5% in market value, or about $25bn, since the launch of the game in the United States on 6 July. Nintendo’s stock has nearly doubled.

• This article was amended on 21 July 2016. It originally stated that Pokémon Go is a Nintendo one – it is in fact published by Niantic, which developed it in partnership with Nintendo. It also incorrectly stated that the game launched in the US in June, rather than July. These errors have now been corrected.