Survey suggests 50% growth in enterprise spending on Apple products in 2012

Forrester Research issued its Global Tech Market Outlook for 2012 and 2013 on Friday where the research company argued that Apple will “reshape the computing equipment market.” The study cited the adoption of iPad and Macs among professionals as proof that Apple is “dramatically disrupting” the corporate market traditionally dominated by Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, and HP.

Analysts have been predicting that cloud computing — specifically, infrastructure-as a service (IaaS) — will reshape the server and storage market… Actual adoption of IaaS remains limited…The biggest disruptive force in the computer equipment market thus is not IaaS, but Apple. This is a surprise, because Apple has not and does not directly address the corporate market, while turning a wide variety of consumer technology markets upside-down. But its rapid growth in the corporate market has been the big surprise of 2011, and it will be even more of a factor in 2012.

According to the survey, the business sector will buy $10 billion worth of iPads this year, up from $6 billion in 2011. IT departments are also projected to spend $9 billion on Macs in 2012, up from $6 billion in 2011. Mac and iPad spending will rise to $12 billion and $16 billion, respectively in 2013, according to the survey.

Forrester outlined also some of the areas where Apple is excelling in capturing the corporate market, attributing Apple’s penetration into IT departments with orders for tens of thousands of iPads from Fortune 500 companies. Moreover, the number of professionals and executives who prefer to use Apple’s products are growing. Forrester explained:

It is common practice for small business owners to purchase computers and other equipment that may be used in part for personal purposes and charge it to their business as a business expense… We have noticed at various tech conferences and vendor briefings — as well as within our own organization — a rapidly growing number of MacBooks and iPads being used by VPs and SVPs, and anecdotal reports suggest that this “take an Apple to work” approach is starting to get company funding and support from the IT department.