Asymco analyst Horace Dediu has published an interesting prognostication on his company’s website: Smart Covers will generate over $1 billion in revenue for Apple this year. Dediu estimates that 60% of the 36 million iPad 2 tablets to be sold in 2011 will be paired with a Smart Cover. With an average price of $48 — based on sales of 70% polyurethane and 30% leather — and sales of 21.6 million Smart Covers, the final revenue figure is an impressive $1.04 billion. Estimating that the covers cost around $12 to produce, Dediu believes that Smart Covers could add $777 million to Apple’s gross margins. “It will be interesting to compare the Smart Cover business with competitor tablet businesses,” quips the analyst. Apple has yet to officially announce sales figures of any kind from the iPad 2 launch last week.

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