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Devices that connect to the Internet to provide greater convenience, security and efficiency for the home are shaping up to be the next hot consumer electronic category.

According to a survey from the Consumer Electronics Association and Parks Associates, 20% of U.S. households with broadband intend to buy one or more smartphone devices over the next year. In all, the category should grow from $2.4 billion in 2014 to more than $4 billion by 2017, according to Steve Koenig, d ...read more

Really serious hiding-under-a-rock just kills me. So when I read an account of the CableFax Innovation Summit that happened a few weeks ago, I had the same surprised reaction. At this meeting of senior-level staff and decision makers -- at least that’s what an account of the meeting by Parks Associates called them -- many of them were very confused about the budding stars of online video.

Reports Glenn Hower, a research analyst for Parks writing in its Parks Points newslette ...read more

But also, Parks Associates also reports this week that 46% of all broadband households also have a game console connected to the Internet and 28% use it as their primary connected device. And of those--and I do recognize the steps are going down with every qualitifier but still-- about 75% of them use their gaming console to access non-gaming stuff.

Parks also says 55% of all broadband consumers subscribe to an OTT video service, so the movement away from conventional conten ...read more

Digital TV-video viewing continues to climb -- but it's still way behind traditional TV consumption.

Parks Associates says U.S. broadband households spend on average 1.3 hours per week watching video on a tablet and 1.6 hours per week watching video on a smartphone. But this compares to almost 20 hours per week on the television.

From the article "Digital Video Views On Rise" by Wayne Friedman.

As this litte blurbette points out, broadband households spend about 1.3 hours per week watching video on a tablet and 1.6 hours watching on a smartphone, but that’s compared to “almost 20 hours per week on the television.”

The Parks data notes that tablet viewing has tripled since 2010, and for smartphones, video viewership has doubled. But in the end, neither one of them can duplicate the sheer joy of the visual experience you get from that ginormous TV in the living room. ...read more

Good luck catching up with Fitbit in the wearable fitness tracker category.

According to new research from Parks Associates, Fitbit commands nearly 40% of the digital fitness tracker market, far ahead of competitors such as Samsung (14%), Nike + Sensor (14%) and Nike Fuelband (8%).

“Fitbit has been around for the last seven, eight years. It’s not an overnight success,” Harry Wang, director of health and mobile research at Parks, tells Marketing Daily. “The consumer needs ...read more

More than 25% of U.S. TV homes will have a streaming media player by next year -- and the number will continue to rise. A report from Park Associates says streaming players will reach 38% of U.S. TV households in 2017 -- some 50 million homes.

Currently, Roku is now the most-used player of those in homes who have the devices, with a 44% share. Apple TV is next at 26%. Parks says the gap has widened since last year, when Roku was at 37% and Apple, 24%.

An earlier Parks re ...read more

Increased familiarity and new entrants into the streaming media market (such as Amazon’s Fire TV) should push adoption of players into 25% of U.S. homes by 2015, according to Parks Associates. Among the popular makers, Roku accounted for nearly one-half (46%) of streaming media players sold in the U.S. last year, while the closest competitor (Apple TV) accounted for only 26%, according to the report.

Usage rates are about the same. Among U.S. broadband households with a stre ...read more