More Businesses Eyeing Tablets, Mostly iPads

More and more businesses are looking to buy tablets for their employees, and most are considering Apple's new iPad, according to a new survey from ChangeWave Research.

Of the 1,604 business IT buyers surveyed by ChangeWave, 22 percent said they will buy tablets for workers during the second quarter. Of those buyers, 84 percent will purchase iPads - "the highest level of corporate iPad demand ever seen in a ChangeWave survey," the firm said.

Back in November, only 77 percent of potential tablet buyers were eyeing the Apple iPad. As a result, today's survey "shows an across-the-board decline in next quarter buying of tablets from other manufacturers," ChangeWave said.

Demand for Samsung tablets, for example, is down two points to 8 percent, while Amazon dropped one point to 6 percent. HP, Asus, Dell, RIM, Lenovo, and Motorola all dropped one or two points from November to capture between 2-4 percent of potential tablet buyers.

Among those opting for 3G or 4G tablets rather than Wi-Fi-only, ChangeWave found that AT&T and Verizon are "in a near dead heat" as the top choice for wireless provider. About 30 percent selected AT&T, 29 percent opted for Verizon, while 4 percent wanted Sprint.

On that front, AT&T and Verizon today formally confirmed that they will offer the new iPad on launch day, March 16. Neither carrier is taking pre-orders for the new iPad on their websites, but you can sign up for an email alert, which will be sent out when the tablet goes on sale.

At this point, wait time for new iPads ordered via Apple.com are at 2-3 weeks. Recently, an analyst suggested that Apple this coming Friday.

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