Tech Zone 360

Harry Wang, director, Health & Mobile Product Research, at Parks Associates, added that “the slowdown is going affect their ability to sell products. The devaluation of the currency there makes Chinese products more competitive while making U.S. products pricier as imports.”

At the same time, the volatility in the stock market is affecting the Chinese consumer’s ability to purchase products from western companies. The Chinese middle class is a big market for American luxury ...read more

"For both flat-panel purchasers and the subgroup of 4K TV purchasers, 44 percent made the purchase after seeing the product for a good price, so the major purchase motivator for flat-panel and 4K TVs was not substantially different," said Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates.

She added, "More consumers value other attributes, including smart-TV capability, built-in Wi-Fi and high-resolution audio, over 4K picture quality,” Kraus said. "Content availability ...read more

Netflix, Hulu, YouTube...these are household names when it comes to providing an evening's entertainment. A new report from Parks Associates shows just how saturated these brands are, as over one in five broadband households in the United States with at least one CE device turn to a streaming media player as the primary delivery mechanism for online video.

That may not sound like much by itself, but one year ago just 12 percent of broadband households could say likewise. The ...read more

Parks Associates has found that 45 percent of Western European households equipped with broadband own a smart TV. Widespread adoption of the connected TV model fits the narrative of evolving, smarter TV viewing, while spelling a major shift in the market.

Germany leads European countries in smart TV ownership, with over 50 percent of its connected households jumping on the smart TV bandwagon.

Western Europe is proving an early adopter of the emerging technology. Smart TV ...read more

The 4K Ultra HD market is developing faster than anyone thought that it would—with TV shipments escalating, more and more content availability and advances being made in compatible home set-top boxes. That said, there are certain arenas that still need to follow suit with adaptability and preparedness for this expanding space, like content security, and delivery mechanisms that can address 4K bandwidth requirements.

UHD TV penetration is expected to reach 61 percent in North ...read more

Cannibalization risk aside, ignoring consumption trends could be riskier than attempting to thwart them. The average consumer is clearly more

interested in streaming than they ever have been—and if a pay-TV provider can enable it, so much the better.

Research from Parks Associates shows that 27 percent of U.S. broadband households now own a streaming media device while Internet access is near-ubiquitous at 90 percent. Also, more consumers bought a streaming media device ...read more

So is cord-cutting becoming a real possibility as content options expand? You betcha, say the analysts.

Parks Associates forecasts 7 percent of U.S. broadband households could cut the pay-TV cord this year as more and more options hit the market.

“The pay-TV industry is experiencing a slow crisis in terms of paying customers,” said Brett Sappington, director of research at Parks. “Content is key to attracting and retaining consumers, and consumers are now looking beyond ...read more

It’s a snowballing trend: More than 45 percent of US pay-TV subscribers are interested in cloud DVR technology, according to research from Parks Associates. In particular, consumers are interested in unlimited storage space and two-week catch-up services for video.

With the Supreme Court omitting cloud DVR in its 2014 Aereo ruling, pay-TV providers can experiment with these cloud services as strategies to build subscriber loyalty and increase revenues, the company said.

...read more