Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Microsoft Entices Holiday Shoppers With 250 Vista-Ready Product,

TechWeb"There's no precedent in my mind," Harry Wang, research analyst for Parks Associates said.

The closest comparison would be the TV industry, Harry Wang said. Manufacturers selling analog sets today are telling consumers that government coupons will be available in 2008 to help pay for converters that will make it possible for the TVs to receive digital signals. Starting Feb. 17, 2009, TV networks will be required to broadcast only digital programming.

"The PC purchase is more dependent on how badly they need to upgrade their existing one," Harry Wang said.

Other experts are equally skeptical whether there's much Microsoft can do now to drive Vista sales later. Gartner, for example, said offering Vista coupons is unlikely to boost sales because of the cost of upgrading an XP PC. Besides the additional $49 and $79 consumers would reportedly pay for Vista Home Basic and Home Premium, respectively, there's also the cost of having a retailer or reseller install the new OS.

Wang agrees. "Price will be an important factor."

From the article "Microsoft Entices Holiday Shoppers With 250 Vista-Ready Product," by Antone Gonsalves.

Previously In The News

Novelty Of New Will Spur Holiday CE Purchases

Based on previous purchase patterns this year, consumers are likely to give smartwatches and streaming media sticks as presents this year, according to research company Parks Associates. Among the...

Dongle Bells: The Holiday Stream Of Streaming Devices

If predictions from Parks Associates are correct, this should be a good season for connected devices like Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and Roku. That's mainly because they’re cheap and small and, if...

Boom In OTT Devices May Be Big Boost To Small Providers Like Popcornflix

According to other, new data from Parks Associates, about one in 10 broadband homes bought streaming device so far this year. Then there’s this stunning assertion from Barbara Kraus, director of re...

25% Of Under-34 Viewers Think Online Is Better Than Pay TV

A new report from Parks Associates caught my attention for this one blunt fact/assertion: The “OTT Playbook: Success Factors for Video Services” contends that 25% of consumers under the age of 34 b...