Blog articles from 09/2022

Join Parks Associates’ Jennifer Kent , VP of Research and Chris White , Senior Analyst, for an interactive in-person session, on Thursday, September 29 at 11:30 AM and 3:00 PM CT at the 2022 CEDIA Expo at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, TX for insights on smart home technology. Panels and speakers include: Thursday, September 29 "The Role of Energy Management in the Future Home" Chris White , Senior...

Join leading industry executives and analysts at Parks Associates’ interactive Connected Health Summit virtual session, “ Seniors and Caretakers: Living Independently ” on Thursday, October 6 at 11:00 AM CT for insights on Seniors, Caretakers, Living Independently, and so much more. Panels and speakers include: Thursday, October 6 Seniors and Caretakers: Living Independently Integrating Tech and Services to Empower Seniors Adam...

Telework, or remote work from an off-premise location, is not new -- workers have leveraged technology to work remotely since the advent of the telegram. Modern telework before the pandemic despite being technically feasible for over 20 years remained uncommon: official estimates peg incidence at ~5% in 2018. The ability to work remotely was a rare perk granted semi-officially to senior executives, specific job functions such as IT staff or call center employees, those undergoing...

The vast majority of businesses in the US are SMBs. Many of the United States' 30+ million small and medium businesses (SMBs) are just as much, if not more, a target of cybercriminals as larger firms. The pandemic continues to drive a shared learning experiment testing the viability of remote work on a mass scale, with approximately 38 million households having at least one member working remotely in 2021. For the first time in decades, US workers control a tight labor market and...

Smart speakers and smart displays entered 2020 as one of the strongest-performing new consumer electronics categories since tablets and smartphones. Their upward trajectory has continued, now reaching over half of US internet households according to Parks Associates research. Smart speakers and smart displays are on their way to reaching levels of adoption and ubiquity not seen since perhaps the DVD player. To that end, the products are now in their third and fourth generations, and they...

Parks Associates’ Future of Video: OTT, PayTV, and Digital Media continues on Thursday, September 22 with the virtual session Digital Piracy and Distribution from 11 AM to 1:30 PM CT. This session will address addresses how content providers are using technology to combat piracy, while still preserving quality of service, quality of experience, and the quality of the customer relationship. Prior to the session, Matthew Fite , Chief Technology Officer, Verimatrix , provided...

2021 and 2022 have been healthy years for the home security industry, and new competition is changing the landscape. Self-installed systems now represent about half of all security systems owned or 16% of all US broadband households. Taken together, these metrics underline the growth of the self-install, professionally monitored market for major players. Understanding the complexity of the market is important as the lines continue to blur with offerings from traditional players...

The cost of living has increased in 2022 as inflation recently broke a 40-year high. There are few indications that consumers can expect a significant decrease in the cost of goods and services in near future. Security companies must find ways to increase revenue to compensate for the higher prices in materials, overhead and wage inflation of their employees. A good portion of the security industry is raising professional monitoring fees or including new services for consumers to...