Apple Inc. (AAPL) Not the Only One To Benefit From iPhone 5 Sales

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is preparing to unveil its new iPhone to much pomp and circumstance. While investors are sure to pay attention to Apple stock as launch day gets closer, with investors and analysts expecting big things from the company and its stock over this and next quarter. However, investors might also want to take a hard look at some other stocks and companies who will benefit from the iPhone release as much as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will, if sales are anywhere near expectations.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has had strong partnerships with several semiconductor companies that produced much of the electronics in the iPhone – QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE:FCS) and NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI).

If Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) does follow through on its September iPhone 5 launch as expected (though the company itself is not saying officially, other than to announce an “event” Sept. 12), some analysts see the company’s fourth-quarter sales will get a quick boost of as much as 12 percent.  An Apple analyst at Piper Jaffray was suggesting that the company could sell as many as 10 million new iPhones in the first month, which could raise quarterly revenues about 8 percent.  Another analyst predicts that that Apple will sell about 250 million iPhone 5 units, with about 50 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Translating that to the prominent semiconductor partners of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), having 50 million units produced would exceed estimates for QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) as well as Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE:FCS) and NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI).

FBR analyst Craig Berger said, “QUALCOMM could see its baseband content grow from about $8 in the iPhone 4S to $15−$18 in the iPhone 5 as Apple upgrades to a 4G LTE slim baseband modem. This could drive 19% of annual QCT sales and $0.25 of EPS (excluding royalties and iPads). (Fairchild Semiconductor should see) increasing analog and FET content in the handset and growing AC/DC content in the device charger, a plus as Apple ramps toward 10% of revenues in 2013.”

Paying close attention to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are hedge funds like David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital (click to see Einhorn’s portfolio). Hedge funds invested in QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) include Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management; interested investors in Fairchild Semiconductor International (NYSE:FCS) include Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management; and key stakeholders with NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.