According to an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Best Buy’s CEO says that the Apple iPad is selling so well that it’s actually cannibalized laptop PC sales by as much as 50 percent. The numbers are according to internal estimates, CEO Brian Dunn told the Journal.

Beginning Sept. 26, the electronics retailer will sell the Apple iPad in all of its 1,093 U.S. stores. Currently, Best Buy peddles the iPad via online in-store pick-up and through Apple Shop locations within 673 Best Buy stores.

Earlier this week, Best Buy reported revenue of $11.3 billion for the second quarter, up 3 percent, and earnings of $254 million, up 61 percent from the same time period last year.

Best Buy’s reported 61 percent jump in profit signals a shift in sales from big-screen televisions and desktop PCs to smartphones and hand-held devices such as the iPad. "People are willing to disproportionately spend for these devices because they are becoming so important to their lives," said Dunn.

"Technology is becoming more and more personal, and our customers say they really value visiting a Best Buy store to touch and try the iPad for themselves," said Wendy Fritz, senior vice president of computing at Best Buy, in a statement.

Earlier this week, Dunn announced he sees the iPad as a "magnificent shining light" in the new category of tablets.

But Best Buy isn’t the only game in town. According to an Engadget postiPad's retail presence into Target stores just in time for the holiday shopping season. That includes a list featuring a mysteriously unnamed product that's set to become available on October 3rd (in six different versions, no less), and a series of images from a Target PDA that displays item numbers that match the iPad prices exactly, ranging from $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model, to $829 for the 64GB model with 3G., Apple could be expanding the