What this is
How a yen spent on Pokémon cards compares with a yen spent on licensed merchandise for The Pokémon Company: royalty of about 5.5–8.7 sen per merchandise yen; cards worth about 1.7–5.5 times as much gross profit at the parent's margin; merchandise licensing equal to about 10.8–24.9% of group revenue.
How it’s built
- A merchandise yen brings The Pokémon Company its royalty: our Western licensing estimate divided by the merchandise it is earned on, 5.51–8.70%.
- A card yen brings the company its share of the list price, 35–59%, times a gross margin. Using the Tokyo parent's blended gross margin of 42.7–51.2%, the card yen's gross profit is 1.7–5.5 times the royalty.
- Licensing would earn more only if the card margin were below the royalty divided by the card share, 9–25%.
- Western licensing of ¥98.5–204bn plus ¥15–50bn for Japan and Asia, divided by group revenue, gives 10.8–24.9%.
What we assumed
- The royalty is close to pure margin.The company holds no stock for licensed goods; its licensing staff and approval costs are real but not published.
- The card line earns the parent company's blended gross margin.No document gives the card line's own margin; the blend is the nearest published figure.
- Money spent on merchandise does not replace money spent on cards.There is no evidence on substitution either way.
Sanity check
Even at the most favourable corner for merchandise, cards still carry more gross profit per yen unless the card margin is implausibly low for a printed product sold near list.
Where it comes from
Our calculation from other figures in the trainer’s notes:
- EstimateAn estimate of how much of each Western list-price dollar reaches The Pokémon Company in the year to February 2026
- EstimateEstimated royalty income The Pokémon Company earned from Western licensed merchandise in 2025
- EstimateHow much more The Pokémon Company earns from a yen of Western card sales than from a yen of licensed merchandise sales, year to February 2026
- EstimateThe Pokémon Company’s Tokyo company revenue growth in years with and without a new console game, 2021 to 2026. New-game years averaged 38% growth; other years 33%
- EstimateThe most all Western Pokémon toy licensees together could have paid in royalties in 2025
- EstimateThe Pokémon Company group's revenue for the year to February 2026, regrouped by its role
Show the working
- Gross profit ratio card over merch times at parent margin: 1.72 to 5.48
- Break even card gross margin: 9.3 to 24.9%
- Card line margin: UNOBSERVED: 42.7-51.2% is the parent blend, not the card line
- Merch licence income ¥ billion West plus JapanAsia: 114 to 254
- Share of group revenue: 10.8 to 24.9%
- Principal over merch licensing times: 1.64 to 7.18
- yield 98.5/1788.9=5.51%, 173.8/1998.3=8.70%
- break-even 0.0551/0.59=9.3% to 0.087/0.35=24.9%
- GP ratio 0.35x0.427/0.087=1.72 to 0.59x0.512/0.0551=5.48
Where it’s used
- Start hereHow Pokémon works, in one read
- StoryLicensing & merch
- StoryPokémon Center
- Chart · Licensing & merchPokémon’s side keeps about 5.5 to 8.7 cents of each dollar spent on licensed goods
- Chart · Licensing & merchA yen spent on cards brings Pokémon four to eleven times what a yen spent on licensed goods does
Related figures
Built from this one