Businesses are rapidly acquiring computer tablets, especially Apple’s iPad. That’s the main takeaway from a new report by ChangeWave Research.
The study of more than 1,600 IT purchasers found that seven percent of the companies already have tablet computers for their employees, and 14 percent indicated that tablets are on their buying list for the first quarter of next year. The iPad has only been shipping since April, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet, the second most-popular product in a category that currently has few choices, started selling in October.
78 Percent Buying iPads
Given its dominance of the category, it’s little wonder that 78 percent of the respondents prepared to buy a tablet in the next quarter said they plan to purchase iPads.
Nine percent of those ready to buy are planning for a Dell Streak, nine percent the upcoming Research In Motion PlayBook, eight percent the Hewlett-Packard Slate, and only four percent Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Samsung recently announced that its Galaxy Tab has sold a million units, although the company didn’t specify if the sales were all to end users or if the total included sales to distribution channels.
Of the tablets in use in business today, 82 percent are iPads, 11 percent are HP Slates, and seven percent are Dell Streaks. As for user satisfaction, 69 percent of iPad users are very satisfied and 26 percent are somewhat satisfied. Among HP owners, only 23 percent are very satisfied and 46 percent are in the somewhat satisfied category, while Dell users are 12 percent very satisfied and 62 percent somewhat.
Usage patterns are becoming clearer, according to the ChangeWave report. Seventy-three percent of respondents are using tablets to access the web, a large increase from the 55 percent reported in a ChangeWave survey in late summer. E-mailing is conducted by 69 percent, up from…