During Apple's earnings call on Thursday (25 October), CEO Tim Cook compared Microsoft's Surface tablet to a car that flies and floats, but doesn't do either well.
When asked for his opinion on Microsoft's new flagship tablet offering for Windows 8, Cook said: "I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product.
"One of the toughest things you do when you make a product is to make hard trade-offs, to decide what a product should be. 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."
Cook added: "I think that when people look at the iPad versus competitive offerings, they really want an iPad and will continue to do that."
The Surface tablet officially went on sale in select regions at 12:01am on Friday, together with the global launch of the Windows 8 operating system. The Surface is Microsoft's first foray into designing and building its own tablet, and has been punted as offering users a seamless transition between work and play. With the entry-level model priced at $499, the Surface competes directly with the entry level model of the latest generation iPad.
Earlier this week, Apple also took the wraps off its new, lower cost iPad, the iPad Mini. Prior to the official reveal, many commentators noted former Apple CEO Steve Jobs' disdain for smaller tablet form factors.
Cook addressed questions on this during the earnings call and defended the iPad Mini, saying it is in a league of its own.
"Let me be clear," said Cook. "We would not make one of the seven-inch tablets. We don't think they're good products, and we would never make one. Not just because it's seven inches, but for many reasons. One of the reasons, however, is size."
Cook continued: "The difference between just the real estate size between the 7.9... versus seven is 35%. And when you look at the usable area, it's much greater than that."
Cook also said the iPad Mini has the same resolution as the iPad 2, meaning that users have access to the App Store's 275 000 existing apps. "The iPad Mini is a fantastic product. It is not a compromised product like the seven-inch tablets. It's in a whole different league."
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