Apple confirms Pokémon Go set App Store record

Pokemon Go silver iPhone screenshot 001

Apple confirmed last week in a statement to media that Nintendo’s augmented-reality game Pokémon Go was downloaded more times in its first week than any other iPhone app since the App Store’s inception in the summer of 2008. Apple’s take from the popular mobile game could help the iPhone maker rake in an estimated $3 billion in additional revenue in the next 12 to 24 months as the game expands into more countries, according to a report from Needham analyst Laura Martin.

The trending game has managed to achieve penetration of six percent of the U.S. population after just ten days, helping Nintendo going up 20 billion.

In addition to confirming that Pokémon Go broke the App Store record for app downloads, Apple also reiterated to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop that it’s now paid out $50 billion to developers.

The data point was first shared at the June 13 WWDC 2016 keynote, during which Apple executives publicly revealed that the App Store is two million applications strong and has 130 billion cumulative app downloads since its inception eight years ago.

Nintendo shares 20160722

Following their spectacular rise, shares of Nintendo, which has an “effective economic stake” of thirteen percent in the Pokémon Go developer Niantic Labs, have since decreased by eighteen percent before trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was automatically halted, Bloomberg reported.

Nintendo’s U.S.-listed shares dropped eleven percent on Friday, prompting the Japanese giant to assure investors that the game’s financial impact will be “limited” and that it is unnecessary to revise its annual forecast even after factoring in current conditions.

The company will report first-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the market close.

Source: The Loop