The power of i

Apple’s latest gadget – the iPhone 5 – will certainly make it a lot of money given that it accounts for half of the company’s annual profit but can it also help the moribund US economy?

That is the claim of one expert who says all those Americans buying the “must have” handset will likely create a measurable boost to GDP.

That is based on the prediction that Apple will sell getting on for 40 million iPhones worldwide between October and December: that is the new one and previous models that are now being sold cheaper. That includes around eight million iPhone 5s in the United States.

The chief economist at JP Morgan, Michael Feroli, estimates the phone’s sales could goose up the US economy in the fourth quarter to the tune of $3.2 billion dollars, that is 2.46 billion euros.

However other economists are sceptical about his calculations and one pointed out the fact that we are talking about this underscores how weak the US economy is.

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