Apple has just been named as the number one company worldwide, overtaking ExxonMobil. But how does it fare in the laptop market, especially since this product category is supposed to be at its core? According to a new Deutsche Bank report, Apple could very well be ahead of the pack when it comes to notebook sales – if iPad sales are to included.

Analyst Chris Whitmore of DB studied notebook sales in recent years including up to the Q2 2011. He found out that without iPad sales, Apple is the 6th global notebook manufacturer. But once iPad sales is include, Apple propels up to the number spot. But the question is, should the iPad be considered when looking at notebook sales. Or better yet, is the iPad to be considered as a notebook PC? Well, I guess it depends on how you define the product. If you’re looking at the notebook PC as a mobile computing device that you can do some of the basic things such as email, web browsing, word and other document processing, gaming, social networking and more – the iPad can very well pass as a mobile notebook computing device.

Another reason why the iPad should be included as a notebook PC product is the fact that there are several reports indicating that the iPad is eating out sales of the traditional notebook PC. This is prompting decline in the sales of top notebook PC manufacturers including Acer, HP, and Dell.

So, what does Apple need to formalize the iPad’s entry into the notebook PC category then? Unifying perhaps its iOS and Mac OS product software product line? A good possibility, right? After all, the iPad has been a major contributor to Apple’s revenue, something around $6 billion from iPad sales alone is a good mark and should be enough to make Apple think of more innovations that would elevate the iPad’s status as one of the major mobile notebook computing device.