It’s Pokémon GO time.
I was taking a break from doing some late night work and going to the grocery store at 11:30 this evening, when I saw a group of about 15 or 20 teenagers on both sides of the street hanging out at the corner playing the new Pokémon GO game — on a week night. (See photo – which isn’t great)
When I saw the teens I immediately knew they were playing the newly released Pokémon GO game, and I couldn’t help but think, wow now that’s true product innovation! Taking an aging, 20-year old game franchise and re-invigorating it with AR (Augmented Reality).
As reported by Reuters, in just two days after its release, the Pokemon game has been installed on more than 5 percent of Android devices in the country, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb.
At this rate evidently its daily active users was neck and neck with Twitter. Additionally, the game is being played an average of 43 minutes a day, more time spent than on WhatsApp or Instagram, the analytics firm added.
Last but not least,according to Reuters, the game has added $7.5 billion in value to Nintendo stock in just 2 days! Let me say that again, $7.5 billion in increased company value in 2 days.
All I can say is AWESOME! What a great example of the value of true product innovation. This is what excites me about working on the tech space with startups and with product innovators.
So kudos to the folks at Nintendo and Niantic. Long live product innovation in the US, Japan, the UK, India, China and throughout the world. And if you’re working on a startup or new product line for your business, leveraging Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things or simply creating a better doorknob or healthy snack… Go get’em folks! Few stories should be more inspiring than seeing the dramatic effect that new product innovation can have on a business.
by Bruce Worrall, Jul-13-2016