Mac Tablet touted as billion-dollar device

Apple's rumoured Macintosh tablet device could bring the company revenues as high as US$1.25 billion, according to one noted Apple analyst.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster suggested that the device, which he estimates to arrive early next year, could account for up to 3 percent of the company's 2010 revenues.

Munster estimated that the device would cost US$600 retail and serve as a mid-point between the iPod touch and the MacBook notebook model. The analyst estimated that company could sell up to 2 million of the tablets over 2010, accounting for some US$1.25 billion in total revenue.

The tablet device, according to Munster, would be similar in function to the iPod touch and would run on a variation of the iPhone OS. The analyst suggested that the tablet would primarily focus on web and media-viewing features and would use the company's App Store to deliver software to the device.

An Apple tablet has been rumoured to be in the works for over a year. The company has long contended that it was not ready to get into the growing netbook market, saying that such low-cost systems lack the quality which the company desires in its offerings.