54% of global IT and business professionals say that their iPad has partly replaced their laptop, while a further 16% say it has completely replaced their laptop, according to [download page] a survey released in January 2012 by IDG Connect. Adoption of the iPad has also curtailed usage of other devices: 43% say it has partly replaced their smartphone, while about one-third say it has partly replaced their PC, TV/DVD player, and MP3 player. Just 28% say the iPad has partly replaced their games console.
iPad Changes Content Consumption
Nearly three-quarters of the respondents say that owning an iPad has reduced the frequency with which they purchase newspapers, while 7 in 10 say they buy less books. Half say that owning an iPad means they are less likely to purchase films on DVD.
The proportion of iPad-owning professionals who buy fewer newspapers is highest in Asia (90%) and the Middle East (80%), while iPads appear to have less of an impact on the buying habits of North American (67%) and European (64%) professionals. The proportion of iPad-owning professionals who cease buying DVDs is highest in South America (67%), Asia (60%), and Europe (57%).
Work Communication Prevalent Activity
Data from the “iPad for Business Survey 2012” indicates that more global IT and business professionals “always” use their iPad for work communication (54%) than for personal communication (42%). The most popular regular activity is web browsing (79%), followed by reading (76%), and news consumption (73%). According to IDG insight, these findings suggest that a substantial number of professionals regard their iPad as a viable business tool.
4 in 5 Always Use iPad Outside the Home
79% of the global IT and business professionals responding to the survey said that they always use their iPad on the road, significantly higher than the proportion that reported always using it at home (54%) or at work (51%). 29% say they always connect to the internet using mobile networks, although a high proportion said they always (8%) or sometimes (51%) use their iPad in offline mode.
Other Findings:
- Satisfaction levels among respondents with the iPad are extremely high: only 17% would consider buying a different tablet device next time.
- A broadly average proportion of North American respondents (57% vs. 54% overall) said their iPad had become a partial substitute for their laptop. However, the proportion who said they have carried their laptop around less since acquiring an iPad was significantly less than the global average (57% vs. 72%).
- 63% of North American respondents said they always use their iPad for personal communication, compared to 42% worldwide.
- Among North American respondents, the proportion whose employers provide them with an iPad is just 13%. According to The NPD Group’s Q3 2011 SMB Technology Monitor, released in January 2012, 73% of US small and medium businesses with fewer than 1000 employees plan to purchase a tablet in the next 12 months, representing a 7% rise from 68% in Q2.
