The largest contributors to the increase were stores in Devon and Cornwall
Carphone Warehouse claims Nintendo’s new Pokemon Go smartphone game caused in-store power bank sales to increase by 60 per cent during the last weekend (July 16 to 17).
The retailer added that stores in Devon and Cornwall were the biggest contributors to the increase, with notable examples being the Kit Powerbank 2,000mAh and the PNY 4,400mAh Powerbank. Carphone declined to break the sales figures down any further.
Carphone Warehouse commercial marketing director Steve Bell said: “Pokémon Go inevitably drains battery life as it uses the camera, GPS and data connection at the same time.
“Turning on the phone’s power-saver mode will definitely help but having a charger or a power pack in your back pocket to revive your phone battery is a must-have for all true fans.”
The augmented reality game launched in the UK on iOS and Android on July 14. It is the latest in various video games and movies launched by Japanese video game giant Nintendo in 1995. It centres on a fictional world where inhabitants capture and train fantasy creatures (Pokemon). The game requires players to use their phone’s GPS to navigate the real world and capture the creatures from the series.
EE similarly saw 350,000 unique downloads of the game a day before its release. Subscribers were able to get the game from unofficial sources around the internet. The game has since helped Nintendo shares skyrocket by 50 per cent to over £5 billion. Reports claim it has 21 million active users and is making at least £1.2 million a day in the US alone.
