Apple’s Tim Cook: The iPad Is Cannibalizing Some Mac Sales, But There Are “A Lot More Windows PCs To Cannibalize Than Macs”

Apple just announced another stupendous quarter. Revenues were up 82 percent to $28.6 billion, it sold 20 million iPhones , but it also sold 9 million iPads.

The iPad sales outpaced every other product. iPad unit sales were up 183 percent, growing even faster than the 142 percent growth of iPhone unit sales. Revenues for iPads and iPad peripherals reached $6 billion (up 179 percent), which is more than the $5.1 billion Apple made from desktop and laptop Mac computers. Asked on today’s earnings call whether iPad sales are cannibalizing Mac sales, Apple COO Tim Cook responded: “Some customers chose to purchase an iPad instead of a Mac, but even more decided to buy an iPad over a Windows PC. There are a lot more Windows PCs to cannibalize than Macs.”

He further elaborated: “We sold every iPad 2 in the quarter that we could make. There certainly was not a shortage of demand. We are also gaining traction in the enterprise.” Last quarter, Apple even sold more iPads into K-12 schools than Macs, which is an indication of demand beyond consumers.

Some of this greater demand for iPads than Macs can be attributed to people waiting for OS X Lion to ship starting tomorrow, but iPads may very well have passed Macs in both units and total revenues for good. And they did so only five quarters after the iPad launched.

Comparing the iPad to other tablets, Cook points out that there are “over 100,000 iPad-specific apps.” He points out that “you would be hard-pressed to find more than a few hundred on the other tablets.”

With Apple already selling half as many iPads as iPhones, it’s lead in the tablet market looks like it will only keep getting longer for now.

Below is a table breaking down Apple sales by product segment and geography.