"COVID-19" articles

Security industry watchers have anxiously awaited Q1 earnings calls to see how market leaders fared as a robust start to 2020 hit COVID-19 headwinds in March. A strong 2019 resulted in 31-32% of US broadband households owning a working security system, up a substantial 5% points over 2018. Eight-eight percent of security system owners have professional monitoring, according to a Q4 2019 Parks Associates study. The view from the top, thus far, is that the residential security...

Ahead of the Connected Health Summit , Parks Associates talked to Gene Wang, CEO and Co-founder of People Power Company, to get his insights on what the digital health industry will look like in the aftermath of COVID-19. Telehealth and telemedicine solutions have been thrust to the forefront of health care – what are the most important ways COVID-19 is impacting this market? Pro: Accelerating market adoption. Con: Slowing investor responsiveness. The healthcare...

Internet service providers (ISPs) are in the midst of a significant sea change. ISPs must support the quickly evolving internet access demands across the globe brought on by the COVID-19 crisis. They are being called on to keep consumers and businesses connected, and are suspending data limits, waiving late fees, halting service termination, opening public Wi-Fi hots spots, and providing free broadband service among other measures to assist the public. From Parks Associates Q1 2020...

Short-form smartphone-only SVOD service Quibi launched on April 6th with a limited-time extended 90-day trial and introductory pricing at $4.99 for the ad-supported tier and $7.99 for an ad-free tier. The early days of the service have been a mix of good and bad news. Quibi certainly picked an interesting time to launch a mobile-only subscription OTT service. As consumers shelter-in-place, their preference for smart TVs and other home-based streaming video devices such as streaming...

The connected wellness and fitness device market has been on an upswing for the past 18 months. Smart watches and fitness trackers, led by Apple and Fitbit, have begun their journey to mass adoption; while connected fitness equipment company Peloton has emerged as a streaming content powerhouse – showing the potential of new business models and new methods of engaging with consumers.  The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the fitness and wellness market –...

TV antenna usage in US broadband households jumped to 25% in 2019 and is expected to grow as COVID-19 has kept consumers at home. Content styles and genres grow and change, while business models and transmission technologies evolve and cause disruption, but nothing changes the end consumers’ goal: to find video that they want to watch. Secondarily, consumers want to find that content in a manner that is affordable and easy. With the increasing number of on-demand options...

Sarah Jones, Vice President, Commercial Product for Best Buy Health and a member of Parks Associates' Connected Health Summit advisory board, recently shared her thoughts with us on how COVID-19 will impact healthcare and healthcare technologies: COVID-19 exposed the vulnerability of our senior population – how do you think the market for independent living and remote caregiving solutions will change coming out of this crisis? I believe that we’ll see technology...

2020 marks an unprecedented time in US and global history. COVID-19 is the first worldwide pandemic to strike our modern society, impacting global supply chains, worldwide businesses, and consumer spending. It has prompted exceptional actions from regulators in terms of both public health and monetary and fiscal policy. 70% of US consumers report that they are following social distancing rules, and 30% report that they are under shelter-in-place orders or are otherwise self-quarantining....