It has been less than a week since the new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad was announced, and already reports are rolling in about surging demand for the tablet. Most notably, even before the iPad was released, a ChangeWave survey found that over 20% of business IT buyers planned to buy new tablets in the next quarter — a whopping 84% of which will be iPads!

The new iPad is clearly driving demand because when the research firm conducted a similar survey in November, just 77% of buyers planned on purchasing Apple tablets. Across the board, all other major tablet makers declined in projected sales for the next quarter. Even Samsung, Apple’s biggest contender in the tablet market, was only able to grab the attention of 8% of IT tablet buyers.

This was in line with an informal poll included in my initial report on the iPad. The majority of you (40%) said you were planning on picking up the new iPad. And, just under 70% said that you would consider it!

These data reinforce analyst estimates that Apple will sell well more than 1 million of the new iPads on March 16 alone, when the tablet hits shelves. Keep in mind that the original iPad brought in less than a third of those sales on its launch day! And, with a revamped retinal display, 4G capabilities, revamped processing power and a longer battery life, it’s easy to see why Apple fans are just itching to get their hands on the new iPad.

As to be expected, the buzz surrounding the new iPad has pushed shares of AAPL up to new highs, but if these projections pan out, there’s still plenty of wind left in Apple’s sails.