In a note to clients -- as reported by "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) -- Barclays Capital analyst Ben A. Reitzes says that an Apple-branded HDTV (the rumored "iTV") would bring in US$17 billion in revenue and garner 5% of the HDTV market.

Reitzes thinks the LCD market will reach about 230 million units in 2012. The forementioned $17 billion in revenue would be almost 10% of his fiscal 2013 estimate of $183.1 billion for Apple.

With assumed gross margins of around 40% on a full-fledged Apple television set, he sees the company gaining about $5.40 earnings per share, or about 11% of his fiscal 2013 earnings per share of $48.46. Reitzes thinks that an iTV could eventually become more than "just" a TV -- including gaming, video, communication, content delivery, apps, computing and all the capabilities of the current Apple TV.