Apple CEO Cook: The iPhone Now Casts The Halo Over The iPad

It’s kind of amazing to consider how passé the iPod, the gadget that defined a decade of music, has become at Apple: the iPhone is the now the halo maker, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In comments before the financial community at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Cook spoke about a number of mobile-related topics, including the debate over whether the iPad is a PC, and his views on the company’s $98 billion cash pile. Of course, it’s no surprise to anyone how mobile-centric Apple’s business has become five years after the debut of the iPhone. But Cook said that the iPhone is now the halo product that is turning the iPad into the fastest-growing product launch in Apple’s history, with 55 million units sold to date, an accomplishment that the Mac didn’t achieve until 22 years after its debut. That’s how people used to describe the effect that the iPod, a huge seller, had on potential Apple customers who were suddenly willing to take a second look at the Mac.

In speaking about Apple TV, the firm's set-top streaming movie player and one of its more minor products, Cook said: "Apple doesn't do hobbies as a general rule. We believe in focus and only working on a few things. And so, with Apple TV, despite the barriers in that market, for those of us who use it, we've always thought that there was something there, and that if we kept following our intuition and kept pulling the string that we might find something that was larger." Cook didn't say what that "something" was, but did add that "for those people that have it right now, the customer 'sat' [satisfaction rating] is off the chart, but we need something that could go more main market for it to become a serious category for the company."

Cook said that the company takes working conditions seriously and that it’s pressing suppliers to meet stringent standards or risk losing business.