The Pokémon Hype Is Over – Nintendo Is Not

When Pokémon Go was released earlier this year, it was an instant hit. Millions of smartphone users around the world went hunting for virtual monsters and Nintendo’s stock price immediately started soaring. The company eventually pointed out that it was the game’s developer Niantic that profited most from its success, but Nintendo had finally generated some positive headlines.

Four months later, things have gotten quiet around Pokémon Go. But while the initial hype surrounding Pikachu and Co. appears to have died down, Nintendo managed to carry the momentum it gained in the summer into the fall. As our chart illustrates, the company’s shares are still priced significantly higher than they were before the Pokémon boom.

There are several reasons for the positive mood surrounding Nintendo these days: First, the company managed to steal the show at Apple’s big iPhone presentation in September, when “Super Mario Run”, the first smartphone game featuring the iconic character, got people more excited than anything that Apple had to show that day. Then Nintendo unveiled its innovative new hybrid console “Switch” in October and finally it releases the NES Classic Mini today. The smaller version of the classic NES console was sold out months before going on sale today and could turn out to be an unexpected but welcome cash cow for the Japanese video game company.

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