Apple Makes Billions With Pokemon Go’s In-App Purchases

iPhone users are buying Pokecoins who get additional features in the app.

Apple’s shares gained 5 percent in market value, or about $25 billion, since the launch of the game. (Photo: AP)

Apple Inc stands to rake in $3 billion in revenue from the Pokemon Go craze in the next one to two years as gamers buy “PokeCoins” from its app store, brokerage firm Needham & Co said.

Pokemon Go, the augmented reality game from Japan’s Nintendo Co Ltd, can be downloaded for free, but iPhone users can use PokeCoins to buy additional features.

A pack of 100 PokeCoins 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 percent of Pokemon Go’s revenue spent on iOS devices, suggesting upside to earnings.

Laura Martin, analyst, Needham & Co

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

Martin said Pokemon 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 $1 billion of revenue in both 2013 and 2014.

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 percent in market value, or about $25 billion, since the launch of the game in the United States on July 6. Nintendo’s stock has nearly doubled.

(With inputs from Reuters.)