Roughly one out of five companies plan to purchase tablets for their employees in the second quarter of 2012, according to a survey from ChangeWave Research. A whopping 84% of companies that plan to buy tablets said they would purchase iPads, a seven point increase from November 2011. When purchasing a connected tablet, 30% of companies would choose AT&T versus 29% which would rather have Verizon, while Sprint comes in a distant third with 4%. 11% of companies would choose a Wi-Fi-only slate. In anticipation of Apple’s third-generation iPad, corporate interest in the Apple tablet increased in February 2012, while demand for tablets from rival vendors decreased. Read on for ChangeWave’s press release.

Demand for New iPad Shakes Up Corporate Market

BETHESDA, MD – A recent ChangeWave Research survey of 1,604 business IT buyers shows the new iPad is already having a powerful impact on the corporate tablet market. ChangeWave Research is a service of 451 Research.

Going forward, better than one-in-five companies (22%) say they’ll be purchasing tablets for their employees during 2nd Quarter 2012, and the percentage reporting they’ll buy Apple iPads has jumped to the highest level of corporate iPad demand ever seen in a ChangeWave survey.

A total of 84% of companies planning to buy tablets next quarter now say they’ll purchase iPads – a 7-pt leap since the previous survey.

The impending release of the new iPad is also having an impact on business purchases of tablets made by other manufacturers. The ChangeWave survey shows an across-the-board decline in next quarter buying of tablets from other manufacturers.

Who is the manufacturer of the Tablets your company is planning on buying?

Among the competitors, Samsung (8%) is down 2-pts and continues to remain a distant second in planned tablet buying.

Other tablet manufacturers showing a decline in corporate tablet share since the previous survey include H-P (4%; down 1-pt), Asus (3%; down 1-pt), Dell (3%; down 2-pts), and RIM/Blackberry (3%; down 2-pts).

Corporate Tablets and Wireless Providers

ChangeWave also asked respondents from companies planning to buy tablets next quarter which wireless service – if any – their company will be using.

AT&T (30%; up 1-pt) and Verizon (29%; up 1-pt) are in a near dead heat as the top choice for wireless service among companies buying tablets, while Sprint (4%; unchanged) remains a distant third.