Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said the following during the company’s latest financial results:
There is cannibalization of the Mac by the iPad but we continue to believe there is much more cannibalization of Windows PC’s by the iPad and there are many more to cannibalize. We love that trend, we think it’s great for us.
Horace Dediu’s excellent analysis seems to corroborate Cook’s claim:
The new data shows that the iPad alone would be the largest PC vendor and Apple with iPad and Mac combined is selling 5 million more units (or 30%) than the top PC vendor.
The impact of the iPad is not specific to any single vendor (Apple included). It competes for time and purchase decisions across all computing alternatives and though many times it’s additive, it is also substitutive and will become increasingly so.
Just think about that. Apple now sells more units of a single device than does any other vendor’s combined product lineup. That is pretty astounding when you consider the iPad didn’t exist two years ago. Talk about disruptive.