Tim Cook on iPad A4 Silicon, Apple TV, the Key to Success

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs annual tech conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, talked about the iPad, the Apple TV, future plans and the key to success in a big company. Cook, as Apple fans know, is the runner-up for CEO at Apple, once Steve Jobs is ready to step down.

Cook told the attending crowd that the iPad would launch in retail, online education and other direct sales from Apple, according to AppleInsider. The device wpuld also be sold by partners like Best Buy, Cook said. "Initially it will be around places with really great assisted sales," Cook said. "Over time it will expand," he explained.

"The experience is just absolutely incredible," he said, talking about the device itself. "And so we're obviously very excited about this thing and can't wait to start shipping it." He revealed that Apple was not concerned about the iPad cannibalizing sales of other Apple products. "It's an incredible value at $499," he said. "It's an amazing experience you can have." He added that the iPod touch had been "a runaway hit" for Apple.

Answering a question about the Apple TV, Cook outlined, "Apple TV is still a hobby." "We've been very clear about that [...] Because our gut says something's there, we're continuing to invest in this," he shared. "But today, it's still just a hobby."

Cook was keen on sharing Apple’s plans about future Apple products, although the only tidbit he would offer was that new devices would employ custom-built chips, much like the new A4 processor found in the iPad. "We felt that we had the best knowledge of what we wanted the silicon to do," he said. By using its own chip, Apple can make devices run cooler, while using less power.

"Apple has, for years, been in the silicon design business," he added. "When we were on the PowerPC architecture, Apple always personally crafted the northbridge and southbridge chipset, and so it's not new to us [...] We've always been about making the best product, not having the highest market share or the highest revenue," he said. "And so acquiring a company so our revenue gets larger isn't something that drives us," Cook pointed out.

As far as Mac computers are concerned, Cook claimed that the company's biggest target remained Windows switchers. "What we have to do is convince Windows users to switch, and we can provide a much better experience than [Microsoft] can," he concluded.