Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

In A Connected World, Why Aren't Smart TVs Very Clever?

Turns out that smart TVs can be, well, pretty dumb. Even moderately priced sets can now connect to the Internet and run Netflix and other apps -- that's the "smart" part. Yet many people are ignoring the built-in features and turning to Apple TV, Roku and other stand-alone streaming devices that often do a better job.

In an August report, the NPD Group estimates that roughly a third of smart TVs in the U.S. weren't actually connected to the Internet. That's down from about half two years earlier, but still not good. Researchers at Parks Associates found that even as more Americans are using smart TV functions, streaming device usage has grown even faster.

"If you're a streaming media box (maker), you've got much more ability to push new features out into the market at an affordable price," says Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates' director of research. "They're very stiff competition for smart TVs."

From the article "In A Connected World, Why Aren't Smart TVs Very Clever?" by Anick Jesdanun and Ryan Nakashima.

Previously In The News

The Home Appliance Renaissance

Finally, another contributing factor to the in-home renaissance is the growth of smart-home adoption. According to Parks Associates, 19 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a smart major a...

Amazon Echo Controls 71% Of Smart-Speaker Biz: Report

A trio of new reports confirms what we kinda already know: that voice control is the happening new user interface, and that smart wireless speakers from Amazon are the dominant domicile for virtual di...

The One Tech Device Consumers Can’t Live Without

“Consumer concerns about data privacy and security, including both the unauthorized hacking of devices and theft of device data, consistently rank as one of the leading concerns about connecting devic...

Shopping By Voice Set To Explode

Voice shopping may also be hitting the road, as 57 percent of U.S. broadband households are interested in voice control features for their car, a new Parks Associates study shows. The biggest benef...