'iWatch' could be bigger 'cash generator' for Apple than television market, say experts

London - Apple's wearable version of iPhone, iWatch, could turn out to be a bigger cash generator for the tech giant than its long-rumoured foray into the television market, a report has said.

According to Citigroup Inc. analyst Oliver Chen, the global watch industry will generate over 60 billion dollars in sales in 2013.

While that's smaller than the pool of revenue that comes from televisions, gross margins on watches are about 60 percent, he said.

A Bloomberg Industries analyst Anand Srinivasan said that this is four times bigger than for televisions, the Telegraph reports.

According to Chen, Apple iWatch 'can be a six billion dollars opportunity for the firm, with plenty of opportunity for upside if they create something totally new like they did with the iPod'.

The TV industry will generate 119 billion dollars in sales this year, according to market-research firm IHS Electronics & Media, the paper said.

Using Chen's margin estimates, a 10 per cent share for Apple in each market would mean gross profit of 3.6 billion dollars for watches, outstripping 1.79 billion dollars for televisions, the paper added.