Apple Recon reports that orders for the recently announced Apple TV have already exceeded the original 100,000 unit order that Apple had placed with its manufacturer, and Apple is preparing to place a second order for twice that number.

According to the site, Apple now expects to sell over a million Apple TV devices leading up to the 2007 holiday season, and at least that many again during the Thanksgiving – Christmas period.

Apple TV is succeeding where Windows XP Media Center has failed due to its simplicity and considerably lower price. It is odd to consider Apple to be in a value market, but strangely, that is exactly what Apple TV has become. You see, its competitor is not the various network vendor products, as they come no where close to the interface and simplicity of the Apple TV; further, they don’t have the iTunes store behind them providing content. Apple TV competes directly with Windows XP Media Center, and comes in at 25% of the price! While Windows XP Media Center has become a replacement for the terrible Windows XP Home, the actual sales of devices destined to be connected to TVs in family rooms, has been very poor. Their high price, along with the mess of patching, securing and maintaining a full Windows PC in the living room is not a very attractive proposition.

Apple has not publicly stated projections. If these numbers are accurate, though, Apple could establish iTunes & Apple TV as the dominant platform for Internet television by the end of this year.

Apple TV is a media router that can wirelessly play iTunes content from a Mac or PC on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts. Users can quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using an Apple Remote.

“Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century—you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod.”

Apple TV connects to most modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for $299.