APPLE Inc stands to rake in $US3 billion ($F6b) in revenue from the Pokemon Go craze in the next one to two years as gamers buy “PokeCoins” from its app store, brokerage 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 $US99.99 ($F207) for a pack of 14,500.
“We believe Apple keeps 30 per cent of Pokemon Go’s revenue spent on iOS devices, suggesting upside to earnings,” Needham analyst Laura Martin wrote in a client note on Wednesday.
Pokemon Go had 21 million active users in the United States alone as of July 18.
