In August, Apple became the highest-valued company ever. According to Asymco analyst Horace Dediu, the Cupertino tech titan seems to be on track to sell 1 billion iOS devices. Dediu's iOS device sales projections are based on iTunes account growth for the next two years.

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At its Sept. 12 press event, Apple announced that it currently has 435 million registered iTunes accounts with 1-click purchasing. Dediu calculated that Apple is currently adding nearly 12 million new iTunes accounts every month, and the rate of growth is steadily increasing. Additionally, Apple divulged that it has sold nearly 400 million iOS devices, which corresponds to the increase in the number of iTunes accounts. Dediu noted that this growth pattern is identical to the rise in iOS usage.

"Projecting the growth forward would imply one billion accounts in another two years," said Dediu. "As iPhone and iPad growth increasingly converges with iTunes (of which there are 400 million units sold), the same time frame could apply to iOS cumulative sales."

The analyst admitted that the forecast was not exact, and like most estimations it relied on a lot of "ifs". However, the notion that the number of iOS devices would catch up with number of iTunes accounts is not inconceivable.

As the Cupertino-based company continues to add to its gamut of iDevices, enthusiasts who swear by the company are tempted to add to their Apple portfolio by purchasing the latest offering.  A large number of these consumers would have a single iTunes account, which calls into question the accuracy of the trend analysis. Experts say that the 1 billion device estimate seems a tad far-fetched, considering that Apple took nearly five years to reach the current 400,000 mark. 

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