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Since its launch in January 2010, the iPad has become part of daily life for up to 60m users worldwide. According to a recent survey of US consumers, most of those iPads have never left the home or ventured much further than the living room. However, a new survey suggests that IT and business professionals use iPads very differently.

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The iPad for Business Survey was carried out by IDG Connect, part of the International Data Group tech media company. The results are not only beautifully presented (you can download the white paper here) but offer a fascinating insight into the iPad as a critical device for the mobile professional.

iPad for the mobile professional

Here are 5 things we took away from the results of the iPad for Business Survey:

1. 51% of IT and business professional say they “always” use their iPad at work. Out-of-home usage is way more intense for professionals than consumers - with over 79% of IT decision-makers saying they “always” use their iPads “on the move.”
2. IT and business professionals use their iPads as dual-purpose work and leisure devices, with a strong emphasis on work functionality, and an extremely heavy emphasis on “on the move” usage. 54% say they “always” use their iPad at home; only 31% say they “always” use their iPad for entertainment; 42% for personal communication.
3. Only 29% say they “always” connect via mobile networks. This suggests that, whist on the move, the iPad has become a tool for IT professionals to consume time-shifted (e.g. downloaded or synced) content. Three-quarters of respondents say they use their iPad for reading.
4. The survey suggests that iPads are better suited to consumption, rather than generation, of content. Three-quarters of professionals say they use their iPad mostly for reading.
5. Whilst only 10% say that their iPad has “completely replaced” their laptop, more than half say that it has “partly replaced” it. The survey also suggests that the device is transforming patterns of content consumption, as iPad-owning IT and business professionals migrate away from physical media, such as books and DVDs, to digital alternatives.

How do you use your iPad?

Do you use an iPad for work? Do you use it on the move? What are its killer applications? And do you agree that the iPad is better suited for consumption rather than creation?

San Sharma (@WorkSnugSan) is community manager at WorkSnug

Photo credit: Brendan Lynch