iAds Could Be Big for Apple, Huge for Developers

Steve Jobs promises that his new iAd platform won’t “suck.” It may also generate more than $800 million a year for Apple.

This estimate comes from Bernstein Research’s Toni Sacconaghi, who also thinks Apple (AAPL) will do more than $58 billion in sales this year. So that number is nice, if not needle-moving.

But the analyst also points out the real benefit of iAds to Apple: It will generate more than $800 million a year for developers, giving them even more incentive to build programs for iPhones and iPads.

Sacconaghi thinks iAd could throw off $550 million this fiscal year (and double that in 2011); Apple will keep 40 percent of that. And he thinks Apple could keep another $250 million from more conventional advertising that runs on media ads/apps on the iPad...

from MediaMemo