Tablet Sales In Business World To DOUBLE [iPad Right On Top]

And people said the iPad wasn't enterprise ready. Sounds like they might be changing a tune. A November ChangeWave survey of 1,641 business IT buyers shows the numbers clear as day: businesses want tablets, and they want Apple's iPad the most. A notable 7% of businesses responding to the study said they currently provide their employees with tablet devices, while a monsterous 14% say they'll be purchasing tablets in the first Quarter of 2011! That's what's called a surge.

Of those saying they'll be purchasing tablets, a whopping 4 out of every 5 said they'd be purchasing the iPad. Dell, Blackberry/RIM, HP, and Samsung are all floating in between 4-10% of the rest of the market. These numbers seem small unless you consider some factors like, for example, the fact that RIM's Playbook hasn't even released yet (set for late 1st Quarter 2011.)

When asked what companies are currently using their tablets for, internet access, checking mail, and working outside the office top the charts both in an earlier study (August) and in this current one (November.) The largest jump between these two studies is the amount of people who use their tablet for laptop replacement – 25% to almost 40%, a trend that'll definitely prove to be interesting as this next year progresses.

Finally they studied customer satisfaction in tablets, taking Apple vs HP vs Dell for a spin. Satisfaction seems to fit right in as far as Apple being on top goes. No surprises here.

[Via InvestorPlace]