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'Pokemon Go' Is Already Destroying Some Of The World's Biggest Apps

'Pokemon Go' Is Already Destroying Some Of The World's Biggest Apps
The Pikachu float makes its way along the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route down Broadway in New York, November 22, 2007. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES)
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
The Pikachu float makes its way along the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route down Broadway in New York, November 22, 2007. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES)

This is what a mobile hit grand slam looks like.

Pokemon Go is less than a week old, yet already the mobile-augmented reality game, in which players earn rewards for exploring their real-world environment, is a massive hit.

(Apparently the success even caught the game’s creator, Niantic Labs, by surprise, as their servers have struggled to keep up with demand).

According to data obtained by SimilarWeb, an analytics firm, more Android users have installed the game than have installed the popular dating app Tinder:

Pokemon Go: Now more popular than Tinder.
SimilarWeb
Pokemon Go: Now more popular than Tinder.

That astronomical number of downloads has translated into a large number of daily active users, so much so that it currently rivals (and will likely surpass) Twitter:

A decent percent of Pokemon Go fans use the app daily.
SimilarWeb
A decent percent of Pokemon Go fans use the app daily.

But it doesn’t stop there. As of July 8, a mere two days after the game’s release, Pokemon Go users spent an average of 43 minutes and 22 seconds a day engaged with the app.

That’s more than most other mobile app darlings, including Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp:

People are spending more time on Pokemon than Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
SimilarWeb
People are spending more time on Pokemon than Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp.

It’s unclear yet how well the game’s popularity will translate into revenue for Niantic and its partners in the venture, Pokemon Company and Nintendo, but Nintendo’s stock has surged with the news.

As markets closed in Tokyo Monday, Nintendo’s value was about $28 billion, and the value of the company’s shares increased by about 25 percent from the start of the day.

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