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

Password Sharing: Charter, ESPN, Viacom Lead Crackdown On Giving Friends, Family Passwords

According to an analysis produced by Parks Associates, about one-third of internet users stream cable TV by using the login credentials of someone they don’t live with. The firm estimated that passwor...

Netflix Subscribers Upgrading To Premium Service Tier

Parks Associates estimates that 30% of Netflix (NFLX) subscribers are getting the premium service tier, up from 21% in late 2017. Meanwhile, the share of subscribers getting the lowest-priced tier has...

The Challenge For Smart Home Companies: Getting A Foot In The Door

But many consumers are leery. News articles questioning the privacy and security of home networks and connected devices, including always-listening smart speakers, have put off potential buyers. The s...

How Many Streaming Video Choices Are Too Many With Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney — And More?

Consumers who dreamed of the a-la-carte TV future might soon wish for a return to the good old days when cable and other pay-TV services packaged channels of programming for them. "We're about to t...