Apple applauds iPad while bashing the opposition

by Steven Mostyn - Feb 16 2012, 10:19

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has moved to roll out the red carpet ahead of the iPad 3’s much talked about arrival by ‘bigging up’ the company’s success in the tablet market.

Shouting from the rooftops at this week’s Goldman Sachs Technology Conference, Cook was not only keen to drive home that the iPad “is on a trajectory that is off the charts,” but also that tablet sales are destined to outstrip sales of conventional PC systems.

“From the first day [the iPad] shipped, we thought that the tablet market would become larger than the PC market and it was just a matter of the time it took for that to occur,” he commented. “I feel that stronger today than I did then.”

And, although the iPad is under threat by an ever-increasing number of tablet devices produced by rival manufacturers, Cook intimated that Cupertino-based Apple isn’t unduly worried by the competition—not least due to the 55 million iPad units already sold worldwide.

For example, he was quick to dismiss Amazon’s cheap and accessible Kindle Fire as a “limited function” alternative that does not appeal to Apple’s audience, while also slamming the comparative lack of app support for tablets running on Google’s Android operating platform.

Current rumors suggest Apple will unveil the iPad 3 on March 7, and formally launch the device at retail around a week later. The third-generation iPad is expected to include the faster A6 processor and an improved 9.7-inch touchscreen with boosted pixel resolution.

In related news, Apple is thought to be testing an enhanced portability iPad that’s apparently equipped with a smaller 8.0-inch screen made by LG Display and AU Optronics.

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