As Tim Cook pointed out last evening, while the iPad is probably cannibalising some Mac sales it is doing a great deal more mischief in the PC department. All these millions of new customers have now introducted into the Apple world and generally like what they find. Yet a majority probably still use a PC as their main computing platform.
What happens when those PC come up for renewal? Millions of people who have never previously considered a Mac will certainly replace their PCs with an Apple product. I have strong anecdotal evidence that this is happening already.
An iPad leads to an iPhone; the exposure to the Apple system leads to a Mac. It’s so obvious but it is worth emphasising. The iPad is Apple’s seductive and glamourous horse in Microsoft’s Troy.