The iPad was one of the biggest success stories of 2010, with 7.3 million sales in the last quarter of 2010 alone, and analysts have long thought that these sales have been at the expense of laptops and netbooks. This week, Apple's chief operating officer seems to suggest, that yes, the analysts were right and that the iPad has been 'cannibalizing' sales of laptops and netbooks.
"Was there any cannibalization by iPad?" Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, said on Tuesday. "Honestly, I don't know for sure. But yes, I think there is some cannibalization."
As for the suggestion that the iPad is even stealing sales away from Apple's range of laptops, Cook did not admit to this fact other than point out that Apple MacBook sales were up 37% compared to the same quarter a year ago.
"If this is cannibalization, it feels pretty good," added Cook.
History has shown surges in sales of other Apple products whenever the company releases a new, even competing, product like the iPhone or iPad. So instead of cannibalization, the opposite may be happening, where users fully embrace the Apple family of products after a successful introduction with one product.
But all this may be at the expensive of Windows based laptops and netbooks!
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