The runaway success of Pokémon Go has stirred tech giant Apple to respond. CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple will be pushing for major development in augmented reality during discussions of the company's second-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
“We have been and continue to invest a lot in this," Cook said. "We are high on AR for the long run. We think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity."
"In terms of AR and the Pokémon phenomenon, it's incredible what's happened there," Cook said. "I think it's a testament to what happens with innovative apps and the whole ecosystem and the power of a developer being able to press a button and offer their product around the word. This certain developer has elected not to go worldwide yet because of the pressure on their servers. But I'm sure they will over time.
"It also does show, as you point out, that AR can be really great. We have been and continue to invest a lot in this, we are high on AR in the long run; we think there are great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity. So we're investing, and the number one thing is that our products work well with other developers' products, like Pokémon, and that's why you see so many iPhones in the wild out there chasing Pokémon."
According to Needham analyst Laura Martin, Apple could earn as much as $3bn in revenue from Pokémon Go in the next two years. However, the potential of AR for Apple is much greater than that.
"I know there are people who want to call [AR] a new computing platform and we'll see," Cook said. "I think there's a tendency in this industry to call everything new 'the next computer platform.' However, that said, I do think AR can be huge. So we'll see whether it's the next platform. But regardless, it will be huge."
