Netbooks have cramped keyboards, small screens, "junky" hardware and bad software, said Tim Cook, chief operating officer of Apple, during a fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. They don't offer the "consumer experience" that Apple wants to offer through its Macintosh hardware.

"It's not a space ... we're interested in," Cook said. "It's a stretch to call them a personal computer."

People who want to use e-mail or surf the Web can instead buy products such as Apple's iPhone or an iPod Touch, Cook said.

Netbooks are small and low-cost laptops that are designed for people to run basic applications such as Web surfing. Netbooks are priced between US$300 and $500, with screens anywhere between 7 inches and 12 inches.

Apple's cheapest laptop costs $999, and it would rather focus on offering quality through its Mac products, Cook said.