Survey results released on Tuesday showed that growing numbers of businesses plan to buy iPads as tablet computers make their way from personal lives into work places.

Slightly more than one-in-five companies said they will buy tablets for workers by the middle of this year, with 84 percent of those purchases to be Apple iPads, according to a ChangeWave Research poll.

The results indicated "the highest level of corporate iPad demand" ever seen in a survey by the US-based, independent research firm.

ChangeWave also found that the pending arrival of a new-generation iPad set for release on Friday has contributed to an "across-the-board decline" in plans by companies to buy tablets made by Apple rivals.

Apple last week unveiled a third-generation iPad enhanced with features aimed at keeping it on top of the booming tablet computer market.

The new iPad boasts a more powerful processor, eye-grabbing resolution on par with that of an iPhone 4S, and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks that move data faster than their predecessors.

"We think that iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at the unveiling, noting that iPad sales topped those of any personal computer maker during the final three months of last year.