Will the iPhone 5 help boost the U.S. GDP

It comes as no surprise that the iPhone 5, which is to be announced tomorrow in San Francisco, will help boost Apple sales and their bottom line, however now chief economist for J.P. Morgan, Michael Feroli, says that he believes the new iPhone could actually help boost the overall U.S. economy.

According to his notes, Feroli and the other analysts at J.P. Morgan expect to see sales at about 8 million units of the upcoming iPhone 5 from the release date to the end of the quarter. Feroli  got these numbers by using the retail control method,  which estimated that potential sales of iPhone 5 could boost annualized GDP growth by $3.2 billion, or $12.8 billion at an annual rate.”

Of course as with any estimates Feroli notes that his estimates are just that and might be a bit overestimated. However in his defense he adds that when the iPhone 4s was announced in October of 2011, it went on to outperform all sales expectations.

“Given the iPhone 5 launch is expected to be much larger, we think the estimate mentioned … is reasonable,” Feroli wrote.

What do you think will the launch of the new iPhone have such an impact on the GDP of the U.S.? Let us know in the comments below.