Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Tech firms cook up ways to expand home products into kitchens

Household brands like Whirlpool, Samsung and Bosch are racing against tech behemoths like Google and Amazon to dominate the kitchen with internet-connected appliances and cooking gadgets that include refrigerators embedded with touch screens, smart dishwashers and connected countertop screens with artificially intelligent assistants that react to spoken commands.

Yet the “smart kitchen” remains a tough sell. With the kitchen often a hub for families and friends, habits there can be hard to change. And many people see the kitchen and mealtimes as a haven from their otherwise always-connected lifestyle. Only 5 percent of U.S. households own smart appliances today, up from 3 percent in 2014, according to the research firm Parks Associates.

From the article "Tech firms cook up ways to expand home products into kitchens" by Brian X. Chen.

Previously In The News

As ‘Game of Thrones’ Returns, Is Sharing Your HBO Password O.K.?

The effect on the companies’ bottom lines remains unclear, but a study by Parks Associates, a research group, found that sharing cost the streaming video industry $500 million in 2015. One reason t...

Smart thermostats are tough sell, but ComEd hopes rebates boost interest

A study released this month by Parks Associates found only 18 percent of consumers would buy a smart thermostat at $250, but offering a $100 rebate more than doubled the pool of interested buyers....

91% of viewers like streaming aggregation, survey says

Not only are consumers saying video aggregators are simple to navigate across, but they also value having a single bill for all their apps. OTT bundling is a key source of revenue for pay TV and other...

Too Much TV? Enter HBO Max, the Latest Streaming Wannabe

“People are going to look at the price point first,” said Steve Nason, research director at Parks Associates. HBO Max costs $15, same as the HBO Now streaming service it's supposed to replace, with di...