When Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked for his take on Microsoft's just released Surface tablet, he called in a compromised and confusing product. Mr. Cook made the comments during the company's fourth fiscal quarter earnings report on Thursday afternoon.
"I haven't personally played with a Surface yet, but what we're reading about it is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product," he said.
Cook: Surface tablet is compromised and confusing
Microsoft's Surface tablet runs Windows 8 or Windows RT and seems to be positioned as both a laptop and tablet computer. The iPad, in contrast, is clearly positioned in the tablet space.
Mr. Cook added that deciding what to include in new products is a series of tradeoffs, and that Apple has done a much better job than Microsoft at finding the right feature balance.
"I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats but I don't think it would do all of those things very well," Mr. Cook said. "I think when people look at the iPad versus competitive offerings, they're going to conclude that they really want an iPad."
With the just announced iPad mini in the mix, Mr. Cook expects Apple will grab even more of the tablet market and he doesn't see cannibalization of the 9.7-inch iPad as an issue.
"We've learned over the years not to worry about cannibalization of our products. The far bigger opportunity is the 80 to 90 million PCs shipped each quarter," he said.