Blog articles from 10/2015

The balance of power in broadband market share is set to change in the U.S. market. Thanks to continued consolidation among U.S. operators, the face of competition in the U.S. market is set to change substantially within the next year. After bidding for Bright House Networks, Charter Communications elected to purchase Time Warner Cable following its failed merger with market leader Comcast. This combined company will become the second largest broadband provider in the U.S. market. At...

The connected car and smart home markets are both at an early stage of development, but in many ways they have been growing in parallel with each other: both are being enabled by falling costs of sensors, networking technologies, and data storage, as well as by expanded cloud services, the mass adoption of smartphones, and consumer demand for the connected lifestyle. In 2015, these ecosystems are beginning to converge, with particular use cases, such as remote home controls,...

Last week, I was among the diverse group of patrons who attended the Broadband World Forum in London. The conference hosted fixed, mobile and cable operators from several global markets; national and international governments; and leading solution providers (among others). I moderated and listened to several debates on the key strategies to achieve success in the connected home. Here are a few key takeaways. The smart home must evolve to become more integrated – All agree that...

Earlier this month, Netflix made an unpopular (but at the same time necessary) decision to raise prices. The price hike was $1 per month and only applied to its second tier of service, which includes HD video and allows for two simultaneous video streams. Speculation arose that the Netflix price increase was tied to issues with password sharing, which Parks Associates covered heavily in The Cost of Piracy earlier this May. Naturally, this reignited the conversation surrounding OTT...

The Internet of Things brings new capabilities to Canadian households, driving the continued increase in consumer spending on connected devices and entertainment options. These solutions create new revenue streams across a variety of market sectors, but a company’s success comes only with an understanding of the consumer demands and market factors driving adoption and usage. In the infographic below, Parks Associates outlines several technology adoption trends in Canada discovered...

Oculus and Samsung have unveiled the consumer version of Gear VR which will become available for purchase in November, making it the first consumer version of the “new wave” of virtual reality (VR) headsets that will be coming late this year and in early 2016. The biggest news is its price tag. The consumer version of the Gear VR is going to be sold for $99. That is approximately half the price of the Innovator Edition of Gear VR that Samsung was has been selling, primarily as a...

Parks Associates research estimates that by the 2019, the number of smart homes with an installed controller will increase to 24.5 million. The rise in consumer adoption of health/wellness devices has created new opportunities for nontraditional players to offer innovative healthcare products and services. Parks Associates, Philips, and ADT Health recently partnered together to co-host a complimentary industry webcast  that explored the top connected health use cases in the...

I had the pleasure of attending IOT World Europe this past week in Berlin. The conference brings together executives from industries across the industrial and consumer Internet of Things to discuss industry trends, strategies, partnership opportunities, and best practices.  I focused in on consumer IOT and heard from speakers about Smart Home, Connected Cars, and Wearables. Several key themes emerged: 1.       What will be consumers’ path to...