Apple iPad will cannibalise Microsoft PCs, claims Tim Cook

Slowing sales of the Mac

With iPad and iPhones flying off the shelves, a blot on the financials were Mac sales, which were down by 700,000 units year-on-year.

Cook gave four reasons why Mac revenues were down by $1.1 million.

For instance, he claimed the introduction of new 21.5in and 27in iMac late in the quarter affected sales. CEO also claimed that a shorter 13 week quarter also played a part as Apple sells an average of 370,000 units a week, and inventory was down by 100,000 units.

Finally, Cook also pointed to the weak PC market and added that he was sure Macs sales were being cannibalised by the iPad.

Apple is focused on the Chinese market

Quarterly revenues in China were $7.3 billion, which is up more than 60 per cent on last year, and the iPhone performed particularly well with growth up by triple digits.

The firm has nearly double the amount of Apple retail stores rising from 6 to 11 in a year.

"[We] increased iPhone point of sales from 7,000 to over 17,000 there. And now this isn't nearly what we need and it's not the final by any means, we are not even close to that, but I feel that we are making great progress," Cook said.

"It's clear that China [is] already our second largest region as you can see from the data that we have given you and it's clear, there is a lot of potential there."

Khidr Suleman is the Technical Editor at IT Pro, a role he has fulfilled since March 2012. He is responsible for the reviews section on the site  - so get in touch if you have a product you think might be of interest to the business world. He also covers the hardware and operating systems beats. Prior to joining IT Pro, Khidr worked as a reporter at Incisive Media. He studied law at the University of Reading and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism and Online Writing at PMA Training.