The 21st-annual CONNECTIONS™ Conference took place May 23-25, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel. Over 500 executives from smart home, entertainment, health, insurance, and energy markets were in attendance for three days of networking, learning, and Parks Associates' latest consumer research.

In the 20+ years that Parks Associates has hosted CONNECTIONS™, the connected home has evolved from a high-end concept toward a mass-market opportunity with incredible revenue potential. Today several high-profile market disruptions are emerging as a result of broadband adoption, smartphone usage, and consumer expectations for connectivity solutions that provide a personalized experience.

Prior to the event, speakers provided perspectives on several trends impacting the connected consumer markets:

• Abode Systems – Voice control rapidly affecting connected home and entertainment industries
• AirTies Wireless Networks – Solving Wi-Fi issues is not a consumer problem
• Arrayent – Matching the audience with the right use case is key to smart home success
• Asurion – More connected devices lead to greater consumer confusion
• Ayla Networks – Voice assistants will become even more appealing
• Brightcove – Consumable content must be frictionless
• BullGuard – Affordability and simplicity make home automation accessible to a mass market
• Chamberlain Group – Companies will soon add layers of security to connected products
• Deutsche Telekom – Relevant use cases and easy set up are crucial for smart home adoption
• EarlySense – Education is vital for adoption of connected products and services
• GE Lighting: Consumers don’t want tech for the sake of tech
• HelloTech – Partnerships can improve overall customer satisfaction
• HomeAdvisor – The smart home is not a one-size fits all solution
• Manhattan Street Capital – It's all about awareness and simple installation
• MivaTek – Product awareness can be biggest driver for connected home technology
• mnubo – IoT-enabled devices dramatically improve product lifecycle management
• Mooreland Partners – Providing an out-of-the-box experience is critical
• PointCentral – More consumers need to see the value in connected products
• Reflexion Health – Connected products need frictionless implementation
• sonnen – Voice assistants are the breakthrough for overall smart home adoption
• Stringify – Peace of mind remains key driver in connected consumer markets
• Verisk Insurance Solutions – Voice control enables new use cases and levels of interoperability
• Voicebox Technologies – Voice-first devices are eliminating friction
• Wink – Consumers want peace of mind that comes with connected homes

CONNECTIONS™ is the only connected home event to focus on the use cases and emerging business models that will successfully engage consumers and grow revenues in the converging IoT industries, including smart home, connected entertainment, and mobile ecosystems. For more information on how you can get involved in future events, visit www.connectionsus.com.

Further Reading:

• More than 442 million connected consumer devices will be sold in the U.S. in 2020
• Global Connected Living Outlook 2017: Building on the IoT
• Top 10 Consumer IoT Trends in 2017