Apple could overtake Hewlett-Packard next year as the world's top personal computer maker, HP's chief executive Meg Whitman, pictured in 2010, said in an interview with a French daily to appear on Wednesday.

Apple could overtake Hewlett-Packard next year as the world's top personal computer maker, HP's chief executive Meg Whitman said in an interview with a French daily to appear on Wednesday.

If one includes tablet computers then Apple could overtake HP in 2012, the French-language Figaro daily quotes Whitman, who took over HP's helm in September, as saying.

Whitman told the paper that the Palo Alto, California-based HP will try to regain the top spot in 2013 and that it will release a new tablet using Microsoft's Windows 8, saying HP wanted to concentrate on the important .

Citing disappointing sales, HP announced on August 18 that it was discontinuing its TouchPad tablet -- just seven weeks after it hit the market -- and abandoning the webOS operating system acquired from Palm that powered the device.

(c) 2011 AFP