Connected CE and Platforms

CEDIA Expo 2022 hosted companies in Dallas, Texas last week from the home entertainment industries introducing new products and solutions in smart home/security, connected entertainment/gaming, and video/audio networking. The three-day convention also featured long-anticipated announcements relating to Matter, a new connectivity standard that aims to revolutionize the connected home experience. Parks Associates latest consumer survey work of 10,000 internet households shows that now...

Comcast and Charter Communications announced a 50:50 joint venture between the two cable giants to develop a streaming platform that will be available nationwide. Both companies’ broadband and cable video businesses are excluded from the partnership. Comcast will contribute streaming service Xumo, which Comcast owns, in addition to licensing its aggregated streaming platform Flex and contributing its retail business for its XClass TVs. Charter will contribute $900 million, which will be...

Wearables are the leading product category in connected health, with smart watches the most adopted product overall.   Smart watch owners are a particularly enthusiastic core of the connected health market, as they tend to own a variety of other products, including connected fitness devices, connected weight scales, and even more medically oriented devices such as smart thermometers. Since 2019, adoption of wearables from Apple and Samsung has grown exponentially, helping to...

The connected home market is ripe with opportunity. Consumers now have an average of 15 connected devices in their homes, and 37% of US broadband households own at least one smart home device. Smart home, connected health, and connected entertainment products provide an increased level of convenience for consumers through home automation and home security applications, energy management and energy efficiency services, new video distribution options through various...

Adoption of the connected lifestyle continues to expand as the supporting technologies mature and the value propositions of smart, connected devices and streaming services are better understood by consumers. Crossover opportunities are emerging between ecosystems in home security, home controls, entertainment, and energy sectors, among others. Currently, according to Parks Associates research, the average internet household has 14.5 connected devices including connected...

Our team felt the excitement last week at CES. Like any event, we diligently planned for months – our speakers, the content, and the delivery of the research were top of mind as we worked towards our first hosted in-person event since we had to move to a virtual schedule in March 2020. The last event we hosted was our annual Smart Energy Summit in Austin Texas in 2020. Despite all sorts of challenges, our team stayed committed to attending CES and hosting our 16th annual...

If you are familiar with the smart home, then you have undoubtedly heard of Matter, a new connectivity standard for smart home devices first introduced in 2019. Matter’s primary aim is to bridge gaps in device integration and take interoperability solutions to new heights. Samsung, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), smart home device makers such as IKEA, and other major brands such as Kroger have also all joined the Matter initiative. While recent years have seen increased...

Parks Associates wrapped up the 25 th year of the CONNECTIONS™ conference this week with two days of virtual sessions: Smart Home: Bridging Platforms and Changing the Experience, Privacy and Security, Europe and Smart Home, Insurance and the Smart Home. Here are some important takeaways from the speakers in each session. Smart Home: Bridging Platforms and Changing the User Experience Consumers do not desire the same smart home experience. They are split into two...