Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

US startups aim to help seniors 'age in place'

Monitoring devices for the elderly started with products like privately-held Life Alert, which leapt into public awareness nearly 30 years ago with TV ads showing the elderly “Mrs. Fletcher” reaching for her Life Alert pendant and telling an operator, "I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!"

Now companies like Nortek Security & Control and small startups are taking that much further.

The challenge though is that older consumers may not be ready to use the technology and their medical, security and wellness needs may differ significantly. There are also safety and privacy risks.

“There’s a lot of potential, but a big gap between what seniors want and what the market can provide,” said Harry Wang, director of health and mobile product research at Parks Associates.

From the article "US startups aim to help seniors 'age in place'" by Reuters. 

Previously In The News

Wearables Find Market With 55+ Users, Big Gains Predicted For Next Year

Parks Associates in May estimated that over 10% of the 65+ population will own a PERS -- for Personal Emergency Response System -- device by 2021, and that figure will jump to 15% for seniors 75 and o...

Saving Money Top Driver For Smart Home Device Purchasing

The majority (61%) of households that do not own and do not intend to purchase a smart home device could be persuaded by reduced household bills or insurance discounts, according to the study, compris...

Your Smart Light Can Tell Amazon and Google When You Go to Bed

This information may seem mundane compared with smartphone geolocation software that follows you around or the trove of personal data Facebook Inc. vacuums up based on your activity. But even gadgets...

Best Buy sees growth thanks in part to connected devices

Meanwhile, Best Buy's push into services and its increasing assortment of smart-home devices—which are now in one out of four U.S. households with broadband Internet, according to researcher Parks Ass...