The Pokémon Company

The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, Kabushiki gaisha Pokemon) is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, marketing and licensing of the Pokémon franchise, consisting of video game software, a trading card game, anime television series, films, manga, home entertainment products, merchandise, and other ventures. It was established through a joint investment by the three businesses holding the copyright and trademark of Pokémon: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, with each of them having part of the shares of Pokémon Company due to this.[2] It began operating in 1998 and adopted the moniker Pokémon Ltd. in October 2000.[4] The company is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo.[5]

The Pokémon Company
Native name
株式会社ポケモン
Joint venture
Kabushiki gaisha
Founded23 April 1998 (1998-04-23) (as The Pokémon Center Company)
Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan
HeadquartersMinato, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
Tsunekazu Ishihara
(President and CEO)
ProductsPokémon franchise
ServicesBrand management
OwnerNintendo (32%)[1]
Game Freak
Creatures
SubsidiariesThe Pokémon Company International
Pokémon Korea, Inc
Pokémon Center Co.
Websitewww.pokemon.co.jp
Footnotes / references
[2][3]
The International Branch of The Pokémon Company.

The company has separate subsidiaries that handle operations in different areas of the world, with The Pokémon Company International supporting the territories outside of Asia and being responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website on the territories outside of Asia. In South Korea, the operations are handled by Pokémon Korea, Inc.[5]

The Pokémon Company also handles publishing of all Pokémon video games since 2001 with Nintendo, being mostly responsible for marketing while Nintendo work with distribution and both companies work together in localization, production, funding, QA and other aspects. The company is solely responsible for publishing and licensing mobile Pokémon titles, unlike console titles where it divides publishing with Nintendo.[6]

History

In 1998, Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak established The Pokemon Center Company (ポケモンセンター株式会社, Pokemon Sentā Kabushiki gaisha) in order to effectively manage the Pokémon Center stores in Japan. After the popularity of Pokémon Gold and Silver, they received many merchandising proposals from around the world. Companies were interested in working with the Pokémon brand. At that time, Tsunekazu Ishihara of Creatures was the person in charge of approving licensed products. Because of the sheer volume of products, Ishihara thought it was too much work for one person to handle. At the same time, in order for the franchise to continue, Ishihara wished to further expand the franchise with long-term goals, such as continuing the anime series and releasing a movie every year. It was then decided that a new organization was needed in order to gather together all the strands of brand management.

This led the three companies to turn The Pokémon Center Company into The Pokémon Company and further expand its responsibilities and areas of business. According to Satoru Iwata, establishing The Pokémon Company was one of his first projects at Nintendo.[7]

Managing the Pokémon Center stores is still a pillar for the company. In total, there are stores in 11 locations: Sapporo, Tohoku (Sendai), Tokyo, Skytree Town (Oshiage), Tokyo-Bay (Chiba), Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.[8]

The United States branch (Pokémon USA, Inc.) opened in 2001 to handle licensing overseas.[9] Nintendo Australia does some licensing and marketing of Pokémon products in Australia and New Zealand, as The Pokémon Company does not have an Australian branch.[5]

Since 2001, nearly all Pokémon products have the company represented as "©Pokémon" in the copyright acknowledgments with the usual three of "©Nintendo", "©GAME FREAK inc." and "©Creatures Inc." The three companies also have ownership of all of the Pokémon-related trademarks in Japan[10] while Nintendo is the sole owner of Pokémon-related trademarks in other countries.[11] The video games, Pokémon Trading Card Game and licensed toys are still being made by third- and second-party companies such as Tomy.

In October 2001, 4Kids Entertainment (now known as 4Licensing Corporation) acquired a 3% stake in The Pokémon Company for an undisclosed sum.[12][13] They liquidated this stake 4 years later for US$960,000.[14]

In 2006, Pokémon Korea, Inc. was founded to manage the company's operations in South Korea.[9] Its headquarters are located in Seoul.

In 2009, Pokémon USA and Pokémon UK merged to become The Pokémon Company International, which handles American and European Pokémon operations under the administration of Kenji Okubo.[15] The company's offices in the United States are in Bellevue, Washington[16] and its offices in the United Kingdom are in London.[5] Some Australian operations are controlled by Nintendo Australia.

Pokémon Center Co., Ltd. was established in August 2011 to manage the Pokémon Center brand and stores in Japan. Its operations include running Pokémon Store and Pokémon Center stores, maintaining the Pokémon Stand vending machines and operating Pokémon Center Online, as well as overseeing the design and manufacture of Japanese Pokémon Center brand merchandise. Yomiomi Uego is President and CEO.[17][18]

List of works

Games

Anime

Books
  • Pokémon manga series
  • Pokémon Junior book series

Films

Licensed merchandise
Retail sales of Pokémon licensed merchandise (licensed by The Pokémon Company)
(excluding sales of products from Nintendo or The Pokémon Company, such as Pokémon video games or trading cards)
Year(s) Region(s) Sales (billion US$) Notes
2001[19] Outside Asia 2
2002[20] Americas 1.1
2003[21] Americas 1.3
2004[22] Americas 1.3
2005[23] Americas 1.3
1996–2005[24] Worldwide 25
2006[25] Americas 1.3
2007[26] Americas 1.4
2008[27] Americas 1.4
2009[28] Outside Asia 1.4
2010[29] Outside Asia 2.5
2011[30] Outside Asia 1.5
2012[31] Outside Asia 1.6
2006–2012 Japan[lower-alpha 1] 9.872
2013 Japan[lower-alpha 2] 0.893
Outside Asia[39] 1.5
2014 Japan[lower-alpha 3] 0.678
Outside Asia[41] 2 Pokémon TCG sales increased by 51% in the UK market,[42] and by 34% in North America.[43]
2014–2015 India There was a resurgence of the Pokémon brand in India.[44]
2015 Outside Asia[45] 2.1 Pokémon TCG sales increased by 56%.[43]
2016 Outside Asia[46] 3.3 The brand's 20th anniversary coincided with a Super Bowl 50 commercial, launch of Pokémon Go and Sun & Moon video games and Sun & Moon anime series, and Pokémon TCG becoming the top-selling collectible card game.[46]
2015–2016 Japan[lower-alpha 4] 1.092
2017 Outside Asia[49] 3.5 Pokémon toys increased in sales,[50] and is the top-selling toy brand.[49] Sun & Moon expansion of Pokémon TCG released, continued success of Pokémon Go, and global launch of Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon and Pokkén Tournament DX games, I Choose You film and Sun & Moon anime series.[49]
2018 Outside Asia[51] 2.98
2006–2016 Japan 12.535
2006–2018 Outside Asia 26.48
Total known sales Worldwide 64.015

Notes
  1. Japan licensed merchandise sales during 2006–2012 – ¥787,654.3 million ($9,872 million)
    • 2006–2007 – ¥246.79 million[32]
    • 2008 – ¥114,929 million[33]
    • 2009 – ¥111,809.3 million[34]
    • 2010 – ¥114,484 million[35]
    • 2011 – ¥107,602 million[36]
    • 2012 – ¥92,040 million[37]
  2. Japan licensed merchandise sales in 2013 – ¥86,978 million[38] ($893 million)
  3. Japan licensed merchandise sales in 2014 – ¥71,825 million[40] ($678 million)
  4. Japan licensed merchandise sales during 2015–2016 – ¥118,777 million ($1,092 million)
    • 2015 – ¥55,257 million[47]
    • 2016 – ¥63,520 million[48]

References
  1. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2019/annual1903e.pdf
  2. "Company History". The Pokemon Company. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  3. "Pokemon Go Nintendo shares Tokyo Stock Exchange Niantic". 25 July 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  4. "Company History - The Pokémon Company". Pokemon.com. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  5. "会社概要" [Company Profile] (in Japanese). The Pokémon Company. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  6. "ゲームを探す". ポケットモンスターオフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  7. "Iwata Asks". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  8. "ポケモンセター　English". ポケットモンスターオフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. "沿革". The Pokémon Company. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  10. "会社概要". The Pokémon Company. Retrieved 7 November 2019. ポケットモンスター・ポケモン・Pokémonは任天堂・クリーチャーズ・ゲームフリークの登録商標です
  11. "4Kids Entertainment Signs New Five-Year Agreement With Pokemon USA/Leading Children's Entertainment Company Acquires 3% Interest In The Pokemon Company". TheFreeDictionary.com. 10 October 2001. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  12. "4Kids Entertainment Signs New Five-Year Agreement With Pokémon USA" (PDF). 4kidsentertainment.com. 10 October 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  13. "Form 10K". EdgarOnline.com. 16 March 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  14. Daswani, Mansha (9 April 2009). "Pokémon Merges North American, European Operations". WorldScreen.com.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  15. "Contact Us". The Pokémon Company International. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  16. https://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/job/pokemoncenter/company/
  17. https://pokemoncenter-recruit.jp/production/static/company_overview.html
  18. "100 Leading Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 April 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  19. License! Editorial Staff (1 April 2003). "Leading Licensors" (PDF). licensemag.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2003. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  20. Wilensky, Dawn (1 April 2004). "Leading 101 Licensors" (PDF). licensemag.com (archived). Archived from the original on 28 February 2005. Retrieved 30 April 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  21. Wilensky, Dawn (1 April 2005). "Are You on the List? Most leading licensors remained flat 2004 over 2003" (PDF). licensemag.com (archived). Archived from the original on 17 February 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  22. Wilensky, Dawn (1 April 2006). "101 Leading Licensors" (PDF). licensemag.com (archived). Archived from the original on 17 May 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  23. Grala, Alyson (1 February 2006). "Pocketing Profits". licensemag.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  24. Wilensky, Dawn (1 April 2007). "103 Leading Licensing Companies" (PDF). licensemag.com (archived). Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  25. "TOP 100 Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  26. "Top 100 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  27. "TOP 125 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  28. "TOP 125". licensemag.com. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  29. Lisanti, Tony (10 May 2012). "Top 125 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  30. "Top 150 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  31. "在日本，地位最高的动漫是哆啦a梦么？". Taojinjubao. Character Databank (CharaBiz). 6 January 2018.
  32. "Japan's Character Products Market in 2008". Licensing Industry Merchandiser's Association. Character Databank (CharaBiz). 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  33. CharaBiz DATA 2010⑨ (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2010.
  34. コンテンツ2次利用市場（ライセンス市場）に係る 競争環境及び海外市場動向実態調査 (PDF). Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 2011. pp. 22–23.
  35. CharaBiz DATA 2012⑪ (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2012.
  36. "慶應義塾大学学術情報リポジトリ（KOARA）". KeiO Associated Repository of Academic Resources (in Japanese). Keio University: 8–9. 2015.
  37. CharaBiz DATA 2014(13) (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2014.
  38. "The Top 150 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  39. CharaBiz DATA 2015⑭ (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2015.
  40. "The Top 150 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  41. Loveday, Samantha (19 December 2014). "Pokémon ends 2014 on a high". Licensing.biz. NewBay Media. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  42. Langsworthy, Billy (21 January 2016). "Esdevium Games enjoys "record sales year" for Pokémon Trading Card Game". toynews-online.biz. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  43. Venkatesh, Shruti (29 December 2015). "Pokemon's second coming". Forbes India. Forbes, Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  44. "The Top 150 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  45. "The Top 150 Global Licensors". licensemag.com. 1 April 2017. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  46. CharaBiz DATA 2016⑮ (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2016.
  47. CharaBiz DATA 2017(16) (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2017.
  48. "Licence Global - April 2018". dc.cn.ubm-us.com. April 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  49. "Brand Pokémon continues to rule in 2017, toys sales spike in Europe". Licensing Corner. 9 March 2018.
  50. "Licence Global - August 2018". viewer.zmags.com. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
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