Apple’s iPad Still the Favorite Tablet for Buyers [REPORT]

Image: ChangeWave Research

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPad is still the king of the rapidly growing global tablet market. A recent survey by ChangeWave Research shows that in the next 90 days, 73% tablet customers will pick the iPad. It’s surprising how fast a product category has grown, considering it came into existence only three years ago.

The firm surveyed over 2,900 potential consumers. Among them 73% chose iPad, 8% people wanted to buy Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’a Kindle Fire, and 6% respondents showed interest in Samsung Galaxy Tab. However the share of Samsung has doubled, from 3% last year. Besides Apple, Samsung is the only company to have increased market share.

Another surprise is the decline of Kindle Fire in the tablet market. Last year 22% respondents were interested to own Kindle Fire.  The reason for the drop likely has to do with customer satisfaction. According to a ChangeWave study conducted in February, only 41 percent of the Kindle Fire owners were “very satisfied” with their device. That is almost half the amount who gave the iPad an 81% rating.

 There are rumors that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is planning to take Kindle Fire heads on by launching a 7-inch ‘iPad Mini’ which will be in the same price range as the Kindle Fire. However, iPad Mini could be a threat to iPad as well.

Paul Carton, the Vice-President of Research at ChangeWave, said. “When it comes to tablets, the ChangeWave survey shows Apple continuing to exert near total control over the market.”