Tim Cook admitted in an earnings call last month that there has been "some cannibalization" of Macs by the iPad, but one noted Apple analyst argues this may actually be a good thing for the company.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research note Wednesday that the trend of iPads eating away at Mac sales could be a "net positive" for the company in the long run because the tablet market is growing so much faster than the PC market.

Even though Macs sell for more than twice as much as the iPad on average, Apple stands to gain more revenue from increasing its share in the tablet market than in the PC market.

"While the shift from a $1,262 ASP Mac to a $559 ASP iPad appears negative, in the greater scheme of the market we believe the shift is a net positive to Apple," Munster wrote in the note. "Currently, if you look at the incremental tablet units sold y/y in 2012 and years beyond, tablet units growth will far outpace incremental PC units. At 1% share of the incremental PC units in 2015, Apple would generate $311 million in incremental revenue, but a 1% share of incremental tablet sales in 2015 would generate $394 million in revenue."

Apple's combined sales for iPads and Macs are currently $62 billion, but Munster expects those sales will nearly double to $119 billion in 2015 even if there is aggressive cannibalization of Macs by the iPad.

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