Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer and Steve Jobs's temporary replacement, said during a Tuesday earnings call with analysts, “Was there any cannibalization by iPad? Honestly, I don’t know for sure. But yes, I think there is some cannibalization.”In the final quarter of 2010, Apple sold 7.3 million iPads. That’s more than 2.5 times the number of Apple laptops sold that quarter.

Cook didn’t admit that this cannibalization had affected Mac laptop sales and cited the fact that Apple’s desktop and notebook sales combined to post a 23 percent year-over-year growth rate. This number is seven to eight times higher than the computer industry’s average gains as projected by IDC.