Tablets such as the iPad will outsell PCs in the coming year, thinks Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference held in San Francisco earlier this week, Cook has this to say about the iPad: "From the first day it shipped, we thought that the tablet market would become larger than the PC market."

Cook was asked about his opinion of the long term potential of the tablet market, in which he noted that he felt "stronger today" about this than prior to the launch of the iPad. Apple has shipped 55 million units of the iPad in what has turned out to be the fastest product ramp for any Apple device in history.

Acknowledging that its popularity was off the charts, Cook attributed its success to various factors that were already in play. These include the iTunes Store, the App Store and how users were already trained on the iPhone and were familiar with a multi-touch interface.

When quizzed further about the effect of the iPad on the PC, Cook pointed out that "I don't predict the demise of the PC, I don't subscribe to that." He noted, though, that there are more PC sales to cannibalize than Mac sales. He also acknowledged that "some Mac sales" were indeed affected by the popularity of the company's iPad tablet.

Ultimately, the increased pressure will "be good for the PC industry because there will be this strong competitor and tablets will innovate like crazy and customers will decide which to buy," says Cook. "There will be a strong PC industry but tablets will be stronger in units." The interview was conducted just weeks before the iPad 3 is expected to debut, in the first week of March, with a faster processor and a higher-resolution screen. MacRumors has a transcript of the interview here.

For more:
- check out this article at PCWorld

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