Survey Finds iPad Dominates Enterprise & Consumer Tablets

The iPad continues to utterly dominate demand for tablets in both the consumer and enterprise markets, according to a new survey from Changewave Research. A key reason for this dominance is the fact that customer satisfaction for iPad owners is far higher than it is for those few people who own non-iPad tablets.

The Suits (with Pocket Protectors)

Changewave conducted a survey among 1,618 corporate IT buyers between August 10th and August 29th that found 80% of those planning on buying tablets for employees were intending to make them iPads. This is unchanged from the previous survey.

The chart below shows Apple’s utter dominance of planned tablet purchases. Note, also, that Samsung was the only company to show a gain, from 6% of future purchases to 7%, while Dell, Motorola, and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook all took hits. The firm also said that 10% planned on buying HP TouchPads before that device was canceled. That would have been enough for a distant #2.

Changewave Chart

Source: Changewave Research

Consumers

In the consumer space, the picture if even uglier if you’re trying to sell a tablet not called “iPad.” Changewave surveyed 2,969 consumers during August and found an even larger percentage of those planning on buying a tablet intending to make it an iPad.

“Even as competitors flood the market with their own tablets Apple continues to dominate,” the firm wrote in its report, “with 85% of planned buyers saying they’ll get an iPad.”

The figure below shows that Galaxy Tab demand is #2 with just 4% planning on buying themselves a Samsung tablet. RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook was #3 at 2%, and Motorola’s Xoom a proud #4 with 1%.

Changewave Chart

Source: Changewave Research

Turns Out I Can Get Satisfaction (with an iPad)

“A key reason for the iPad lead is found in its customer satisfaction rating,” the company wrote. “70% of consumer iPad owners say they’re Very Satisfied with their tablet device. That dwarfs the Very Satisfied rating of all of the other manufacturers combined (42%).”

You can see those results in the figure below. The iPad has consistently rated very high in customer satisfaction surveys since its release, including past Changewave surveys.

Changewave Chart

Source: Changewave Research

The Steve Jobs Inoculation Effect

Another interesting data point from the firm’s report is what Changewave referred to as the Steve Jobs inoculation effect. The company asked consumers if the resignation of Apple CEO Steve Jobs made them less likely to buy Apple products in the future. 4% of those surveyed said yes to this question.

If you go back to June of 2008, however, when Steve Jobs took his first medical leave of absence, 18% of those surveyed said that his departure would make them less likely to buy Apple products in the future. That represents a 14 point decrease in the three years since that time. In fact, 1% of respondents now said that they were more likely buy a product from Apple, with another 6% saying “Don’t Know.”

“The results suggest that [Steve] Jobs’s previous absences have had an ‘inoculating’ effect that over time has allayed consumer concerns on whether the company could operate at the same level without Steve Jobs at the helm,” the company wrote.

The chart below traces the steady downward direction of any concern over buying products from an Apple without Steve Jobs as CEO.

Changewave Chart

Source: Changewave Research