Jobs Confirms Apple Sold More iPads than Macs

Many analysts have speculated that Apple sold more iPads than Macs, but it's speculation no more. Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed in an earnings call that the iPad sales eclipsed Mac sales in the third quarter.

Jobs said Apple sold 4.19 million iPads in the third quarter of this year, while only selling 3.9 million Macs. If that’s not impressive enough, consider this: That 3.9 million Macs is a record for Mac sales, up 27 percent over Mac sales at the same time last year.

Of course, the iPhone did well, too, with 14.1 million iPhones sold. Jobs indicated it could have been more; they were selling them as fast as they could make them. Putting together all iOS device sales (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Apple sold 125 million devices. It should come as no surprise, then, that Apple recorded a record $20 billion in revenue.

These are impressive numbers all around, but perhaps the most important part is news that the iPad, which has only been around since April, is already outperforming established parts of the Apple catalog. It certainly does much to dispel the myth that tablets are just a passing oddity. It also seems to dispel the theory that the iPad is cannibalizing MacBook sales because Apple still saw such an significant increase in Mac sales.

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