The surprise winners and losers from Pokemon Go
Who's the biggest winner from the Pokemon Go craze? Who wouldn't be saying Nintendo at this point in time? But, it's more like Pokemon No…
The Japanese games firm today revealed that the hottest game in town will only have a limited impact on its profits after all.
Say what? Yep, read on to find out why and which other businesses are the surprise winners and losers of Pokemon fever.
LOSERS
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Nintendo investors
They may be the company most associated with the game, but in fact it only has around a third of a stake in Pokemon, something it was forced to remind the markets of and which led to a dive in its share price after significant gains in recent weeks.
"Shares in Nintendo rose for the same reason as the Tulip mania of Holland – popular delusions and the madness of crowds," said ETX Capital's Neil Wilson.
Read more: Pokemon Oh: Nintendo shares tumble on note about game
Shares do remain 50 per cent up on their pre-Pokemon price, but with that reminder, it remains to be seen if the firm can capitalise on the success in the long term.
Google could have been one of the companies raking it in like Nintendo (or getting all the headlines, at least). Google started Pokemon Go maker Niantic Labs as one of its internal startups back in 2010. Last year, it was spun out as an independent company.
Google did invest in the independent Niantic and it does get a share of revenue from the app store sales in Google Play, but that's probably not quite as lucrative as owning it whole.
Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat
There are only 24 usable hours in the day – that time spent on Pokemon Go is time not spent elsewhere, and some experts say that it's the previous time-hog, Facebook, which is likely to suffer. It had already overtaken Tinder in terms of user numbers within days of launching.
WINNERS
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This former British advertising boss
Another investor in Niantic is the former chief of media giant Havas. David Jones' is now an investor and earlier this year got in on Niantic's latest funding round, landing what's likely to be a pretty comfortable windfall from its success.
Apple
As if Apple didn't already have enough cash to its name, the popularity of Pokemon Go will only add to it, according to one analyst.
Read more: Pokemon Go has already shot to the top of the UK app stores
Needham & Co's Laura Martin told clients the tech giant can expect a $3bn bump in revenue from people buying PokeCoins via the Apple app store, from which Apple takes a 30 per cent cut.
Telecoms companies
The only thing you need to play Pokemon Go is a smartphone and an all important connection to the internet. What with all that roaming around to hunt down Pokemon, that's most likely to be via some heavier than usual data usage – good news for phone companies (not so much for users).
The high street
Suddenly, people appear to be leaving their homes and wandering the previously desolate streets. Ok, they're still glued to they're phone, but it's a start. But any establishment which happens to be a PokeStop is in luck.
Yes, the game launched in Japan with a McDonald's sponsorship, but businesses certainly don't have to pay for the privilege (yet, anyway).
One such spot in London has reported a 26 per cent rise in customer visits and is spending cash in the app to drop (virtual) items nearby to tempt users to the restaurant. Maxwell’s Bar and Grill in Covent Garden said that it is seeing a return of £44 for every £1 it spends in the game.
Meanwhile, retail landlord Hammerson which runs shopping centres across the country, has been placing lures to attract Pokemon players.