Apple to Pokemon Go: Thanks for the extra $3 billion?
Your Pokemon Go obsessions could make Apple an extra $3 billion over the next one to two years, an analyst says.
Nintendo's insane hit Pokemon Go could add $3 billion to Apple's sales over the next 12 to 24 months, financial analyst Laura Martin said Wednesday.
How did she reach that forecast, you might ask?
First, Apple is "THE global distribution platform for mobile content," Martin, an analyst with investment banking firm Needham & Company, wrote in a note to investors. And second, she estimates Apple keeps 30 percent of Pokemon Go purchases made from an iPhone or iPad.
Pokemon Go makes money when users -- who seem to be just about everyone, everywhere -- buy lucky eggs, lures, incense, poke balls and extra storage. And you're buying a lot, according to the report, citing research released last week from Slice Intelligence. According to Slice, Pokemon Go's in-game sales on July 10 represented 47 percent of the "entire US mobile gaming ecosystem."
More important, said Martin, 53 percent of the people buying those add-ons "had made zero mobile games purchases over the past 6 months."
In others words, you're hooked. That benefits Apple because two-thirds of all Pokemon Go downloads are on iOS devices.
"Because iOS owners are generally wealthier than Android owners, we estimate that over 80 percent of Pokemon Go's in-app spending is on iOS devices," she wrote.
