Apple CEO on rivals: 'We've always suited up and fought'

Share price plummets may mean a lot on Wall Street, but Tim Cook brushed off the vagaries in the company's stock as an indication that Apple is losing its edge over the competition.In an appearance at the D11 Conference,Apple's CEO brushed aside suggestions that Samsung's growing strength or the surging popularity of Android suggests a deeper problem for Apple.Is Apple in trouble, Cook was asked by conference co-host Walt Mossberg."Absolutely not," Cook replied, moving seamlessly into stump speech mode. He said the company had sold 85 million iPhones and 42 million iPads in the last quarter. "More importantly, customers love them," according to Cook, noting that customer satisfaction numbers were "off the chart and the usage numbers, based on Web traffic, far outpace its market share." "From my point of view, over my long tenure at Apple, not as CEO, we've always had competent rivals. We fought against Microsoft-still fight against Microsoft, particularly in the PC space," he said. "We fought against hardware companies thought to be really tough like Dell. We've always suited up and fought."