Survey: IT buyers (of tablets) favor the iPad
Few companies have yet chosen to go the tablet route, but Apple is winning the market for those that have, and the market may soon double, according to a ChangeWave survey.
A recent survey conducted by market research firm ChangeWave shows that of the few businesses that have decided to provide tablets for their employees, the vast majority have selected Apple's iPad.
ChangeWave's latest survey asked 1,641 IT buyers about their companies' tablet usage and their satisfaction with the purchase. Currently, only 7 percent of respondents said their company provides employees with a tablet--that's up 1 percent from the survey done in August. But of that small group of respondents, the iPad was the overwhelming product of choice; 82 percent had gone for the Apple tablet.
Following the iPad is the Hewlett-Packard Slate, which had attracted 11 percent of the tablet-buying respondents, and the Dell Streak, with 7 percent.
The satisfaction rate among respondents is also quite high for Apple compared to the competition. Sixty-nine percent were "very satisfied," and 28 percent were "somewhat satisfied" with the iPad. Of the respondents who had bought HP's Slate, 23 percent said they were "very satisfied" with the product, and 46 percent were "somewhat satisfied" responses. Only 12 percent of the Dell Streak buyers were "very satisfied" with the product, while 62 percent were "somewhat satisfied" with it.
Even though only 7 percent of IT buyers report providing tablets to employees right now, that number will potentially double in the first quarter of 2011, when 14 percent of respondents say their company will buy tablets for employees.
That news seems especially good for Apple. Of the companies buying tablets in 2011, 78 percent plan to purchase iPads. Apple's tablet is followed by those of Dell (9 percent), Research In Motion (9 percent), HP (8 percent), and Samsung (4 percent).