Apple (AAPL) Could Double Next Year’s Earnings Just Off iTV

Ironfire Capital’s Eric Jackson says Apple (AAPL)’s earnings could double just off an Apple-branded TV set in the next two years.

Citing estimates from a research note to clients Morgan Stanley (MS)’s Katy Huberty issued Tuesday about the much-anticipated Apple TV, Jackson says that based on extensive consumer surveys Apple could sell 13 million TV sets in the U.S. alone at $1,060 a piece within 12 months of introduction. That would represent a $13 billion opportunity that could add $4.50 to Apple’s current $49.41 EPS.

“If you combine both the very interested Apple diehard folks with somewhat interested folks out there…you are talking about something like 56 million units that could sell within the first year of this thing going on the market, and that’s way above anyone else is predicting,” Jackson said.

When asked about the challenging economics of the TV business, Jackson noted that “every time Apple goes into one of these new spaces they figure out a way of doing it in a cool and special way that makes people want to part with the money in their pockets.”

“I think they’re going to do the same thing with TVs,” Jackson said. “I think it’s going to be obviously a new kind of experience, something that you just can’t get even from these so-called smart TVs that are out there today.”

While opinions about whether Apple is about to enter the TV set market remain sharply divided, according to Jackson, Apple’s iTV could come in the second half of 2013.

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