In the course of a year an early split will/can build up to to a double
brood chamber hive, produce a summer crop of honey, over winter and be
available for splitting again the next spring.  For the cost of a queen
you get a full hive and a crop in the same calendar year with the
potential to do it again next year.
 
A fall split will build up and over winter as a single, continue to
build the following spring, put on a crop in the following summer, and
because I don't follow this method I'm not sure if you can split that
unit the following fall and have both halves(?) overwinter.
 
Assuming you can split the fall split hive in the subsequent fall, I'll
concede that you accomplished the same thing in the same amount of time.
However, you're a half a year later with the fall splits but you save
the cost of the queen by raising your own.
 
I find this amusing, sort a chicken and egg sort of thing!  Which came
first, the harvest or the split?  Just goes to show, there's more 'n one
way to keep a bee!
 
Aaron Morris