The iPad is an in-betweener device - it's too big to be a smartphone and it's not quite a PC. It can be a conundrum for analysts looking to pick apart Apple's quarterly and yearly earnings as there is no established category for the device. Some analysts have chosen to separate the iPad into its own category ("media tablets"), others prefer to take a different approach and group the iPad with PC sales.
This latter category leads to some headline-grabbing reports similar to the one just released by Canalys. The market analysis firm proclaimed that Apple is now the #3 PC vendor in the world, trailing only HP and Acer. The climb to the third spot
