Technology bellwether Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has moved to second position in a survey on Life Science IT spending conducted during the first quarter. Apple's iPad has become a key player for life sciences companies. In the last year, Apple moved up three spots to the second position in the software category.
While Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) leads the hardware category, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) maintains its number one position as the software vendor of choice for life science companies, data from International Data Corp. suggests. The research firm surveyed more than 100 life science companies to find out the preferred hardware and software vendors they plan to use in 2012.
With more than 30 percent of respondents preferring Apple's hardware, the company jumped from fifth to the second choice. Compared to the 2009 survey, the latest survey indicates a 220 percent climb for Apple. The company also made significant strides in the software category moving to the runner-up position behind Oracle in 2011. Undoubtedly,the iPad is driving Apple a key player in the life sciences space.
In the hardware category, Dell maintains a significant lead with 45 percent of life science companies preferring to buy Dell's hardware during the next 12 months. The company has been maintained its numero uno slot during the last five years. With Apple at second slot, the other preferred IT vendors in the order are Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), EMC (NYSE: EMC) and International Business Machine (NYSE: IBM).
Similarly, in the software category, Oracle leads the pack with more than 25 percent of respondents preferring the company's software in 2012. The silver medalist, Apple, is joined by SAP and SAS to witness significant improvements with the survey scores increasing close to 20 percent year-on-year.
For IT services, life science companies prefer Accenture as the most preferred for the second straight year with close to 10 percent of respondents intending to use Accenture's services. While IBM followed with 9 percent, Cognizant Technology Solutions (Nasdaq: CTSH) moved into the third slot for the first time with 5 percent of respondents preferring to use its services in 2012. Infosys (Nasdaq: INFY), and Indian company that has a prominent position in the space.