September 13, 2011

BETHESDA, MD – The resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple is having little impact on the demand for Apple products, according to a new survey from ChangeWave Research, a division of The 451 Group.

The September 6-12, 2011 survey of 2,297 consumers shows only 4% say Jobs’ resignation makes them Less Likely to buy Apple products in the future, while 89% say it’s having No Effect on their purchasing of Apple products.

When asked a similar question during Steve Jobs first leave of absence back in 2008, nearly one-in-five respondents (18%) said they would be Less Likely to buy Apple products if Jobs stepped down.

Since then ChangeWave has asked this question on several occasions, and over this time period the impact of Steve Jobs stepping down has clearly lessened in the minds of consumers.

* Note that in the current survey (Sep '11), 1% said More Likely to buy, and 6% said Don't Know

The results suggest that Jobs’ previous absences have had an ‘inoculating’ effect that over time has allayed consumer concerns on whether the company could operate at the same level without Steve Jobs at the helm.

Two recent ChangeWave surveys on tablet demand provide additional evidence that Apple product demand has not been affected to date by the loss of Steve Jobs.

iPad Continues to Dominate Business Tablet Demand

An August 10-29 ChangeWave survey of 1,618 corporate IT buyers shows the Apple iPad remains the overwhelming choice for planned tablet purchasers,

Among companies planning to purchase tablets for their employees next quarter, 80% say they’ll buy iPads – unchanged since the previous survey.

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

*The H-P TouchPad was preferred by 10% of future buyers but was subsequently discontinued.

The survey results show no new major breakthroughs among Apple’s competitors in the corporate market. But with H-P now exiting, Samsung (7%; up 1-pt) shows the most promise.

The findings for Motorola (4%; down 6-pts) and RIM (3%; down 5-pts) are particularly disappointing – each having declined in terms of planned corporate tablet buying.

iPad Dominates Consumer Tablet Demand As Well

A second ChangeWave survey of 2,969 consumers during August also looked at tablet demand trends. And even as competitors flood the market with their own tablets Apple continues to dominate, with 85% of planned buyers saying they’ll get an iPad.

(FOR THOSE BUYING A TABLET DEVICE IN THE FUTURE) Who is the manufacturer and what tablet device are you planning on buying?

*The H-P Touchpad was preferred by 2% of future buyers but was subsequently discontinued.

Samsung (4%; up 2-pts) is currently the next closest competitor followed by the BlackBerry PlayBook (2%; down 1-pt) and the Motorola Xoom (1%; down 3-pts).

A key reason for the iPad lead is found in its customer satisfaction rating – 70% of consumer iPad owners say they’re Very Satisfied with their tablet device. That dwarfs the Very Satisfied rating of all of the other manufacturers combined (42%).

Amazon Tablet Waiting in the Wings? A competitive tablet device may be in the offing, with Amazon reportedly planning a new Android-based Kindle tablet for the fall.

To measure the potential impact of such a device – which is rumored to include a 9-inch color screen and web browser along with eReader functionality – w e asked respondents how likely they would be to purchase a Kindle Tablet.

A total of 2%said they’re Very Likely and 12% S omewhat Likely to buy a Kindle Tablet when it becomes available. Based on this it’s clear that the consumer demand is there if Amazon can produce a competitive Tablet device. Moreover, Amazon’s huge base of Kindle eReader users gives them a considerable leg up for entering the tablet market.

In sum, while no other manufacturer has been able to challenge Apple's stranglehold on the tablet market to date, the survey shows Amazon may have the consumer interest to succeed where others have failed – if they can build a competitive tablet product.

So far that’s proven to be a big ‘if’ for the rest of the industry.

The complete ChangeWave Consumer Tablet, PC and eReader Demand report is available here.

The complete ChangeWave Corporate Tablet, PC and Smart Phone Demand report is available here.

**Note that ChangeWave also offers these reports as part of a quarterly subscription series available for purchase.

About ChangeWave Research
ChangeWave Research is an independent research firm that identifies and quantifies change in telecom trends, consumer spending & electronics trends, and corporate buying & business trends. This is accomplished through a weekly series of large sample surveys to its network of 25,000 accredited business and technology professionals, and early-adopter consumers, working in more than 20 industries. ChangeWave offers research reports via subscription to its three different survey series – ChangeWave Telecom series, Consumer Spending & Electronics series and Corporate Buying & Business Trends series. To learn more, visit www.changewaveresearch.com.

About The 451 Group
The 451 Group is a leading technology-industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. The company's analysts provide critical and timely insight into the market and competitive dynamics of innovation in emerging technology segments. Clients of the company – at vendor, investor, service-provider and end-user organizations - rely on The 451 Group's insight to support both strategic and tactical decision-making. The 451 Group is headquartered in New York, with offices in key locations, including San Francisco, Washington, DC, London, Boston, Seattle and Denver. For additional information on The 451 Group, go to: www.the451group.com.