Apple posts record Mac quarter despite some iPad cannibalization

Along with the iPad, Mac sales were one of the highlights of Apple's quarterly earnings report. In the quarter that just ended, Apple sold 4.89 million Macs, a 26 percent increase over the year-ago quarter.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was pleased about the Mac performance, but in response to an analyst question he did confirm that some customers are buying the iPad instead of the Mac. It's inexpensive and easy to use, two features that appeal to the average consumer.

But Apple's computers are not as hard-hit by iPad cannibalization as the PC market. Cook suggested today, as he has in the past, that a far larger number of people are choosing to buy an iPad instead of a Windows PC (versus those choosing the iPad over a Mac notebook).

Cook sees this as a growing trend and he said today he believes that the tablet market will someday eclipse the PC market. Considering that Apple currently has 3/4ths of all tablet sales, that's good news for the company's prospects.