Kindle Fire purchase intent already at one-third the iPad’s level

When people think about buying a tablet, Apple’s iPad is (obviously) still their first pick. But it’s impressive how many people are aware of — and are considering — Amazon’s newish Kindle Fire tablet. According to ChangeWave survey results, for every 3 North Americans considering an iPad, 1 is considering the Kindle Fire.

This does not mean that people will go through with those purchases — perhaps they’ll be swayed by the reviews, or the pricing, or whatever. And, standard disclaimer, this is just one survey from one source — that’s all. (And, notably, doesn’t reflect behaviors in some other parts of the world, such as Europe or Asia, where Samsung or Apple may have different luck.)

But the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Tab — which has been on the market for a while — is only at 4% says volumes about the state of the Android tablet market and the breakthrough potential of the Kindle Fire. According to ChangeWave, after the Galaxy Tab, no other manufacturer is getting more than 1% of purchase consideration. (Sorry, RIM.)

It’s going to be very interesting to see if Amazon starts reporting Kindle Fire (or overall Kindle) sales numbers next January, when it reports Q4 results. It’ll be a much more exciting competition with Apple if it does (for me, at least).

A couple more stats from the ChangeWave survey:

• 14% of respondents say they plan to buy a tablet in the next 90 days, up from 4% a year ago.
• 19% of respondents say they are at least “somewhat likely” to buy a Kindle Fire for themselves or for someone else. But only 5% considered themselves “very likely” and only 2% had pre-ordered one.

Also: Will the tablet market really grow bigger than the PC market?