HP's head of PC Todd Bradley has slammed the Microsoft Surface tablet, claiming that it represents no threat to the PC manufacturer.

In an interview with IDG Enterprise, Bradley said consumers hadn't taken to the new Windows RT tablet device. "Holistically, the press has made a bigger deal out of Surface than what the world has chosen to believe," he said.

And when asked if it was serious competition to HP's business, he was dismissive. "I'd hardly call Surface competition," Bradley said, adding that it had "very limited distribution", "it's expensive", and that it "tends to be slow and kludgey as you use it".

However, Bradley revealed that HP is not in a position at present to re-enter the consumer tablet market in order to compete head-to-head with the Surface.

"We're not entering the consumer tablet fray any time soon," he said. "We'll be doing something next year, but you won't see a consumer tablet from HP before Christmas. You'll see convertibles that are focused on how you use the device, keyboard, clamshell."

His comments come soon after Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer attacked Android and Apple as competition for Windows Phone 8, so there's some trouble brewing among outspoken company chiefs at present, it seems.