New Research Reveals Trends in Cloud Storage and Services in advance of 2015 International CES

New research from Parks Associates reveals 62% of U.S. broadband households never back up their data to an online storage service, despite options available from companies such as Carbonite, Acronis, and Backblaze. This finding reveals a huge addressable market for cloud-based storage in 2015, as consumer consumption of digital content is on the rise. Smartphone users in U.S. broadband households spend 18 minutes on average per session when using streaming music apps, which exceeds time spent on gaming, social media, or video apps.

“As the connected consumer achieves greater mobility, device storage becomes a limiting factor for consumer content, prompting a shift to cloud-enabled storage and access,” said Glenn Hower, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “Starting at CES and throughout 2015, we will see CE makers and online technology companies leverage cloud-based storage as a value-added feature. CE companies and cloud-based storage providers are struggling to differentiate in the market, prompting device and service providers like Amazon, with its Fire Phone, and Kodak, with its upcoming Android devices, to rely on cloud-enabled storage and functionality to attract new customers.”

The new research report Converging Clouds: The Next Step for the Personal Cloud identifies trends and changes in the different areas of the personal cloud. It details current challenges facing players in the personal cloud industry and areas of convergence that have created hybrid functions.

“Connected devices are increasingly reliant on cloud-based features to enable enhanced consumer experiences and features that are unavailable in non-connected products,” Hower said. “In 2015, consumers will expect CE devices to have a measure of connectability, and they will place high value on cloud-based functionality.”

Parks Associates analysts report wearables are poised to form a large chunk of the personal cloud in the new year as consumers store their health and fitness data in the cloud. The research firm reported wearables such as smart watches would be popular holiday gifts in 2014, and as more consumers adopt these devices, developers will need the software and storage in place to accommodate the growing influx of user data.

Converging Clouds: The Next Step for the Personal Cloud also provides a five-year global forecast of the number of consumers using cloud services on their entertainment devices.

Parks Associates will address the connected home and digital media markets at CONNECTIONS™ Summit: Monetizing Smart Home Solutions and Connected Devices, January 6, on the first day of CES. The session "Consumer Demand for Next-Gen TV Services" features speakers from Verizon Digital Media Services, Gracenote, BrightLine, DivX, ThinkAnalytics, and Cisco. More information can be found at www.connectionssummit.com.

Analysts are available to comment on hot topics at CES. To request an interview with an analyst or specific research data, contact Holly Sprague at [email protected], 720.987.6614.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

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