Apple: The iPad Isn’t Cannibalizing the Mac, But We Sure Hope It’s Cannibalizing the PC

If the iPad is a cannibal, it is not the Mac’s flesh that it dines upon. In the device’s first full quarter at market, Apple sold more Macs than ever before–3.47 million of them. That’s a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter and a new quarterly record.

So if the iPad is having any effect on Mac sales, it’s an additive one. Like the iPod once did, the new slate from Apple (AAPL) seems to be having a halo effect on Mac sales thanks to the publicity and Apple Store floor traffic it has generated.

“Historically…iPod created a halo for the Mac and, in fact, as the iPod volumes took off we saw a dramatic change in Mac sales,” Apple COO Tim Cook said during an earnings call yesterday. “So, could that happen on iPhone and iPad? We’ll see. … Everybody views cannibalization as a negative, but at Apple we focus on synergy between devices. The Mac has outgrown the market for 17 straight quarters, but its share is still low. So there’s still an opportunity for it grow. This is where it’s great to have a lower share. If it turns out that the iPad cannibalizes PCs, then I think it is fantastic for us because there are a lot of PCs to cannibalize.”