Tim Cook Reuters
Tim Cook says that he was "not surprised" by the sale of Motorola to Chinese firm Lenovo, saying that Google was "not committed" to the phone manufacturer. Reuters

The Wall Street Journal published an interview with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook on Friday in which Cook discussed criticisms of his company and took a jab at his biggest rival, Google (NSADAQ:GOOG).

saying that it was logical for the search giant to get “rid of something that’s losing money, something that they’re not committed to.”

“I think it’s really hard to do hardware, software and services and to link all those things together. That’s what makes Apple so special,” Cook told the WSJ. “It’s really hard, so I’m not surprised that they are not going to do that.”

Cook said that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company grew revenue by $14 billion to $15 billion last year, and that Apple was still a growth company. “We were in hyper-growth, or whatever is above growth,” Cook said about earlier quarters where the company often added upward of $50 billion in revenue. He noted that during that time, Apple was adding the equivalent of three Fortune 500 companies every year.

Cook says that Apple will be entering new product categories this year, likely referring to a wearable device like the rumored iWatch. He said that Apple needs to continue to do only “a few things and doing them great.”

“There will be new categories and we’re working on some great stuff. We’re not ready to talk about it,” Cook told the WSJ. “I think no one reasonable would say they’re not a new category.”

Cook also said that Apple is waiting “until the technology is ready” to release a phablet, or iPhone with a larger screen, “not just the size but in the resolution, in the clarity, in the contrast, in the reliability.” Apple is rumored to be working on a larger screen size for the upcoming iPhone 6.

Follow Reporter Thomas Halleck on Twitter @tommylikey