This is expected. Apple products are hot because the people love them. To have some scientific data behind this, IHS iSuppli did a market study. They asked tablet owners to indicate how they would recommend the iPad to others based on their use of the device on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being they were very likely to recommend it, 5 being neutral and 1 being they would not recommend it.
iPad owners gave an average rating of 8.8 to their Apple iPads, the highest rating of all the 11 top-ranked brands in the survey. More than 80 percent of Apple owners rated their tablet at 8 or higher on the recommendation scale. Fewer than 1 percent gave a rating of less than 5.
The results of the survey highlight the strong brand loyalty amongst the existing iPad owner customer base but also offer some hope for Apple’s main competitors amongst the group planning to purchase a tablet in the next six months. Apple led the pack in this group when purchasers were asked to indicate what brands they will consider for their tablet purchase but Samsung, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, and RIM all received a substantial number of votes.
Existing owners reported far less price sensitivity than those planning to purchase tablets this year, which provides a definite opening for Apple competitors with a value sensitive price point.
The result is available in full in IHS iSuppli US. Tablet Consumer Preference service which provides a reliable predictor of current and future demand trends for tablets including screen size, touch interface, features, pricing and retail experience. It also measures the impact of tablets on the purchases and usage of other equipment such as PCs, monitors, handsets and televisions.
