(Image courtesy of Endgadget)

Despite having one of their best quarters ever, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is still a little uneasy about the runaway train that is the iPad in the tablet world.  He also addressed the PC market between the two companies as well.

"Today, one of the top issues on my mind, hey there's a category -- tablets," said Ballmer, via a transcript to Business Insider.

"Apple has done an interesting job.  They've sold more than I'd like them to sell.  We think about that," Ballmer said.  "So it's our job to say, we have got to make things happen.  Just like we made things happen with notebooks, we have to do that with Slates."

He had started off with, "Windows is everywhere.  It's in gas pumps, lights controlling stadiums, etc.  But for consumers…Microsoft went from no Windows in notebooks to being the guiding piece of software.  Thin laptops, gaming PCs, TVs, etc.  We have the widest array of form factors."

What makes Ballmer most concerned?  Microsoft's take is that the iPad is a PC.  So since Apple recently increased its Mac unit sales and at the same time selling about an equal amount of iPads per quarter, in Redmond's world, Apple doubled its share of the overall computer market.  Some companies are also putting aside plans of using Windows for their tablet products in favor of Android.

And what might the future hold for Microsoft tablets?  "We've invested in touch, in ink.  Mark up annotation, you'll see us try to bring it together to deliver slates and convertibles people will be excited about."  As far as when we might see such a thing, Microsoft tablets, "will be shipping as soon as they are ready.  It has job one urgency around here, nobody's sleeping at this point.  We are working with those partners, not just to deliver something, but to deliver products that people really want to go buy."

But of course as this is Microsoft and Apple we're talking about, two of the biggest tech competitors of all time, Ballmer was quick to criticize the iPad commenting "I don't think there is one size that fits all […] I've been to too many meetings with journalists who spent the first 10 minutes of the meeting setting up iPad to look like a laptop." 

via AppleInsider

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