14 DAY TRIAL // Pokemon Go’s success has taken everyone by surprise, including here Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, who has said in the conference call following the company’s fiscal third quarter announcement that Cupertino is ready to continue investments in Augmented Reality (AR) in the coming months and years.
Niantic’s smashing hit is living proof that there’s huge opportunity for AR, and Tim Cook explains that Pokemon Go shows that the app ecosystem continues to be alive - there were critics and analysts predicting the death of apps on mobile devices.
“In terms of AR and the Pokémon phenomenon, it's incredible what has happened there. I think it's a testament to what happens with innovative apps and the whole ecosystem and the power of being a developer being able to press a button, so to speak, and offer their product around the world,” Cook says.
Apple: We want to be part of this
Furthermore, Apple’s CEO also emphasizes that not only has his company been part of the AR world but it will continue to be an important player in this industry, as there’s “great commercial opportunity.”
“It also does show, as you point out, that AR can be really great. And we have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We are high on AR for the long run. We're investing, and the number one thing is to make sure our products work well with other developers' products like Pokémon. And so that's the reason why you see so many iPhones out in the wild right now chasing Pokémons,” Cook points out.
Pokemon Go has already reached 75 million downloads, despite being released only earlier this month and in just a few countries at first, thus becoming one of the most successful games on mobile devices ever launched.
Niantic is working hard to make it available in as many countries as possible but is also planning some other improvements, including new Pokemon and tweaks for PokeStops that would give them a new purpose, such as healing centers for Pokemon. At this point, there’s still no info on when these updates could arrive.