An Apple executive made references to the much rumoured iPod phone during a conference call about the company's financial results. 

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer and senior vice president, made the comments during a talk with analysts which was transcribed by financial analyst firm Seeking Alpha. 

In response to a question about Sony's success with its Walkman line of MP3 playing handsets Oppenheimer said: "We are very confident in our ability to compete in the marketplace, and we are very excited about what we have in the pipeline. 

"As regards cellphones, we do not think that the phones that are available today make the best music players. We think the iPod is. But over time, that is likely to change, and we are not sitting around doing nothing."

The full transcript of the conference call can be found at the Seeking Alpha website.