June
25, 2009 — EE Times
Market watcher Parks
Associates estimates four million smart meters have been deployed in
the U.S. to date, though many have not been enabled for two-way
communications. An estimated 50 million could be installed in five
years, the group said."It's been going faster than
anticipated in part as a result of government stimulus funds," said
Bill Ablondi, a Parks
Associates
researcher.
From the article, "DoE puts out call for $3.9B in smart grid
projects" by Rick Merritt.
June
25, 2009 — Gearlog
"Consumers are placing high value
on connected televisions that open up new content applications," Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, said in
a statement. "Our recent research has identified a likely target of 2.5
million North American broadband households that are ready to purchase
an Internet-connected TV."
From the article, "Vizio Adds Widgets From Facebook, Twitter,
Showtime, More."
 June
24, 2009 — Sigma Designs and Z-Wave Press Release
“Residential Energy Management: State of the Market” – a Sigma Designs (NASDAQ:SIGM)
and Z-Wave sponsored webcast to present Parks Associates’
assessment of the market for digital systems and services used to
monitor, control, and manage electric energy in the home.
Over three million smart meters have been deployed in the U.S., and
Parks Associates forecasts that the number of U.S. households
with a smart meter will grow to 19 million by 2012.
From the press release, "Sigma Designs and Z-Wave Sponsor
Residential Energy Management Webcast"
June
24, 2009 — Western Digital Press Release
According to a July 2008 report by research firm Parks Associates,
the number of households worldwide with data networks will grow from
around 170 million in 2008 to 240 million by year-end 2012. The firm
also reports that the average broadband household will see its digital
media storage needs grow to nearly 900 GB by year-end 2012. In addition,
consumers indicate that the most important feature for a
network-attached storage (NAS) device is the amount of available
storage. With its massive 4 TB capacity, the My Book World Edition II
network storage system will serve this rapidly growing need for home
data storage."
From the press release, "WD’s New Dual-Drive My Book® World
Edition™ II Network Storage System Adds Extra Level of Protection for a
Family’s Valuable Data."
June
23, 2009 — FOXBusiness
Annual U.S. revenues for remote technical support services will grow to
$2.6 billion by 2013, according to a new report from Parks Associates.
Digital Home Tech Support: Analysis and Forecasts finds that increased
demand and technical innovations will allow retailers, service
providers, and third-party providers to grow their customer base and
increase revenues across an array of support areas, including PC and
home networking setup and troubleshooting.
"On-site and in-facility repair services once dominated consumer
technical support," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. "Today,
remote support services allow consumers to keep equipment at home while
still giving them access to expert assistance. People are already
looking for something to solve their digital challenges and are very
interested in these offerings."
Scherf said
that the creation and use of automated and deep-diagnostic tools are
creating greater efficiency and scale. These tools are especially
important as retailers and service providers integrate enhanced support
services into new products and subscriptions, which will help grow the
number of U.S. households with remote support to over 10 million by
2013.
"The use of diagnostic tools and automated software will help
providers increase profitability and deliver more proactive services
that can help boost recurring subscription revenues," Scherf
said.
From the article, "Consumer Demand, Technical Innovations to
Push U.S. Revenues for Remote Technical Support Services to $2.6 Billion
by 2013"
June
23, 2009 — VIZIO Press Release
VIZIO enables web-based content to be easily accessible and viewed
simultaneously with any input on the HDTV and is displayed in an easy to
navigate, non-intrusive menu that can be adjusted to fit around the
video on your TV screen.
"Consumers are placing high value on connected televisions that open
up new content applications," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "Our
recent research has identified a likely target of 2.5 million North
American broadband households that are ready to purchase an
Internet-connected TV."
From the press release, "VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA(TM))
Connected HDTVs deliver unprecedented choice and easy to access
Internet-based content streamed directly to VIZIO HDTVs."
June
20, 2009 — Examiner.com
My friend Adam asked me which type of job he should target next. He is
tired of 100% commission-based sales jobs, working Saturdays and
Sundays, and dreams of an exciting and stable job in the future. Looking
at my crystal ball, I told him: "Go Video."
"Everything points to
video on demand," said
Jayant Dasari, Research Analyst at Parks Associates.
From the article, "Job hunting crystal ball: video, mobile
app, interactive TV" by Del Daix.
June
18, 2009 — MediaBuyerPlanner
Parks Associates estimates there were 62 million smartphone users
in North America in 2008, with user penetration expected to reach 239
million in 2013. The firm predicts that U.S. 3G network data plans will
reach 95% penetration by 2013, with Canada achieving 70% penetration.
“Mobile advertising is poised to take advantage of opportunities
presented by the diffusion of 3G networks and devices such as the
smartphone,” said
Heather Way, research analyst, Parks Associates. “Advertisers
will begin to incorporate mobile into their media campaigns as this
medium matures into a viable marketing space.”
Way cautions that advertisers may encounter early resistance from
consumers. Previous research from Parks Associates found that 38%
of respondents do not want to receive ads on their mobile phone, while
37% remain neutral to the idea.
Perhaps not surprisingly, mobile ads are more welcome among younger
age groups. “Teens and young adults are more receptive to ad-supported
mobile content, particularly in entertainment genres,”
Way added.
From the article, "Mobile Ad Revenues to Hit $1.5B by 2013"
June
18, 2009 — Control4 Press Release
"Consumers, who are increasingly tech-savvy, are looking for a unique
guest experience when they visit hotels and resorts," said
Bill Ablondi, director of home systems research for Parks
Associates. "That's why it makes good business sense for the
hospitality industry to consider incorporating not only entertainment
system automation, but temperature and lighting controls within the
guest experience."
From the press release, "Door-to-Drapes Customization: Four
Leading Hotels Select Control4 to Personalize Guest Experience, Bolster
Green Initiatives With Automation"
June
18, 2009 — TMCnet
Revenues for mobile advertising in the U.S. and Canada are expected to
grow from $208 million in 2009 to around $1.5 billion by 2013, according
to a new report published by Parks Associates. The report,
entitled “Mobile Advertising: Analysis and Forecasts,” notes that this
growth in ad revenues will be due to adoption of smartphones, 3G network
data plans—or newer wireless services—and downloadable applications.
Report predicts that this significant increase will begin in 2010.
Additionally, Parks Associates reports that there were around 62
million smartphone users in North America in 2008. The report estimates
this user penetration to reach 239 million in 2013. In addition,
Parks Associates projects that U.S. 3G network data plans will reach
95 percent penetration by 2013, and Canada achieving 70 percent
penetration. “Mobile advertising is poised to take advantage of
opportunities presented by the diffusion of 3G networks and devices such
as the smartphone,” said
Heather Way, research analyst at Parks Associates. She believes that
advertisers will begin to incorporate mobile into their media campaigns
as this medium matures into a viable marketing space. However, he
cautions that advertisers could encounter early resistance from
consumers.
Parks Associates’ Mobile Entertainment (Second Edition) found
that 38 percent of respondents do not want to receive mobile ads. And,
around 37 percent of the respondents remained neutral to the idea of ads
on their mobile phone.
Way said that teens and young adults are more receptive to
ad-supported mobile content, particularly in entertainment genres. She
suggested that advertisers need to develop innovative ways to reach
these consumers. Mobile Advertising: Analysis and Forecasts examines the
current mobile advertising market. It includes a market overview and
analyzes effective mobile ad formats and current pricing models.
From the article, "Mobile Advertising to Grow to $1.5 Billion
by 2013 in U.S. and Canada" by Anshu Shrivastava
June
18, 2009 — MarketingVOX
"Mobile advertising is poised to take advantage of opportunities
presented by the diffusion of 3G networks and devices such as the
smartphone," said
Heather Way, research analyst, Parks Associates. "Advertisers
will begin to incorporate mobile into their media campaigns as this
medium matures into a viable marketing space."
Way cautions, however, that advertisers may encounter early
resistance from consumers. Previous research from Parks Associates'
found that 38% of respondents do not want to receive ads on their mobile
phone, while 37% remain neutral to the idea. Perhaps not surprisingly,
mobile ads are more welcome among younger age groups. "Teens and young
adults are more receptive to ad-supported mobile content, particularly
in entertainment genres,”
Way added.
From the article, "Mobile Ad Revenues to Hit $1.5B by 2013"
June
17, 2009 — MOD Systems Press Release
MOD Systems Inc., a provider of digital media delivery systems for
retailers, today announced that senior vice president of business
development, Brad Gleeson, will participate in a session called “Digital
Den” at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy, or ESCA, in Los Angeles.
Also speaking at the session will be executives from such companies as
Yahoo! Connected TV, Edgecast, BuzzMedia, BluFocus and more.
The “Digital Den” session, hosted by Parks Associates, will be
held from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, June 24, 2009, at
the Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles.
From the press release, "MOD Systems' Brad Gleeson to present
at Entertainment Supply Chain Academy"
June
16, 2009 — Fox Business
Revenues for mobile advertising in the U.S. and Canada will grow from
$208 million in 2009 to approximately $1.5 billion by 2013, according to
the new Parks Associates report Mobile Advertising: Analysis and
Forecasts. Adoption of smartphones, 3G network data plans (or newer
wireless services), and downloadable applications will spur this growth
in ad revenues, with significant increases beginning in 2010.
Parks Associates estimates there were 62 million smartphone
users in North America in 2008, with user penetration to reach 239
million in 2013. Parks Associates projects U.S. 3G network data
plans will reach 95% penetration by 2013, with Canada achieving 70%
penetration.
From the article, "Smartphones, Data Plans, New Apps to Drive
Mobile Advertising Revenues to $1.5 Billion in 2013"
June
16, 2009 — Audioholics
The web-features built directly into HDTVs this year are far cry from a
true web experience offered from many popular set-top-boxes - but
they’re off to a good start. Parks Associates has determined that
2.5 million North American households are interested in web-enabled
HDTV, provided it’s priced nor more than $100 higher than a regular
HDTV.From the article, "LG Launches Netflix Enabled HDTV"
by Wayde Robson
June
14, 2009 — The Baltimore Sun
At least for home security companies, the potential for consumers to
adopt the new gadgets has implications for an industry that's seen its
growth slump in recent years, as the U.S. housing market has slowed,
according to Parks Associates, a Dallas-based firm that covers
digital consumer technologies. About 25 percent of households have some
type of security system, and 19 percent pay for monthly monitoring,
where a company would automatically notify emergency services upon alarm
activation, the firm reports. From the article, "No site
unseen: New home security systems will allow owners to see live video
with cell phones or computers without breaking the budget"
by Gus G. Sentementes
June
12, 2009 — CNET NEWS
It's no coincidence that two prominent companies in the HDTV business
are moving to the Web with their products. According to a recent study
by market research firm Parks Associates, "2.5 million U.S. and
Canadian households are ready to buy an Internet-connected TV." There's
just one caveat: demand is that strong only if those connected HDTVs are
priced no more than $100 higher than other sets on the market. From the article, "Why
connected HDTVs are the future"
by Don Reisinger
June
11, 2009 — Affinegy Press Release
The new Affinegy DigiDo suite targets the accelerating convergence
between traditional home data networks and emerging media and
entertainment network environments inside and outside the home. The
company said that the suite is a unified solution that makes it easy for
consumers to connect new devices and adopt new Digital Lifestyle
services. Affinegy showcased DigiDo, and discussed its company momentum,
as well as spoke on a panel, at the recent Connections: The Digital
Living Conference and Showcase, hosted by research firm Parks
Associates with support from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).From the
press release, "Affinegy Releases 'DigiDo' Platform for the Digital
Lifestyle"
June
9, 2009 — RedOrbit
Parks Associates today announced the participants for the
second-annual "Digital Den" at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy (ESCA),
June 23-24 at the Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles. The Digital Den, June 24,
1:30-3:15 p.m., features an introduction from Blair Westlake, Corporate
Vice President, Media & Entertainment Group, Microsoft, followed by a
short presentation from Parks Associates' President Stuart Sikes.
The Digital Den, hosted by Parks Associates, includes
presentations from innovative companies developing new content delivery,
management, and access methods for entertainment at home."The number
of households worldwide subscribing to TV services will exceed 1.4
billion by 2013," said
Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates. "This consumer
base offers tremendous revenue opportunities for companies deploying
innovative services such as local and Web content on the TV as well as
place- and time-shifting solutions for different devices throughout the
home."
From the article, "Parks Associates' Digital Den at ESCA to
Discuss Innovations in Digital Content Delivery and Home Entertainment"
June
8, 2009 — Consumer Electronics Net
MOD Systems, Inc., an industry-leading provider of digital media
delivery systems for retailers, today announced that the company has
finalized new agreements with major music labels Universal Music Group,
Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Music, along with
several aggregators of independent label content, that extend a catalog
of DRM-free MP3 tracks and albums to retail stores for digital
distribution.'MOD Systems provides retailers with a channel for
delivering digital music and video directly to consumers on the high
traffic retail floor,' said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President and Principal Analyst at Parks Associates. 'This
enables consumers to purchase digital tracks and albums where they might
be buying their MP3 player or new cell phone, and allows stores to carry
an expanded catalog of content that might not otherwise be in stock due
to shrinking shelf space. With digital delivery via traditional
retailers, every player in the distribution chain stands to gain ' the
label, the retailer and the customer.'
From the article, "MOD Systems Brings Digital Album and
Single Track Music Sales to Retail Stores"
June
8, 2009 — Affinegy Press Release
"Having delivered high-value home networking solutions to millions of
consumer end users, Affinegy is uniquely positioned to exploit
accelerating IP convergence trends," said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President and Principal Analyst at Parks Associates. "Their
proven technology and vision for bringing simplicity and intelligence to
the Digital Lifestyle makes them a formidable player in this enormous
emerging market." From the
press release, "Affinegy Launches DigiDo - Broad New Software
Platform for Mastering the Digital Lifestyle"
 June
6, 2009 — Z-Wave & Z-Wave Alliance Press Release
"As the building of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure in the U.S.
accelerates with the availability of federal stimulus funds, Z-Wave is
well positioned to play a leading role given its success overseas," said
Bill Ablondi, director of Home Systems research with Parks Associates. From the
press release, "Z-Wave and Energy Savings Go Hand in Hand"
June
5, 2009 —
Light Reading
At the Parks Associates Connections conference, panel sessions
accepted questions via text or Web (or, yes, Twitter). The results got
shown on the presentation screen at the front of the room. Speak to Us
Questions began at the bottom ("Test Message"), with new ones added to
the top of the list.
It sounded like just a gimmick at first, but it had its usefulness.
The questions piled up quickly without anybody having to interrupt the
current question. The moderator, Parks analyst
Jayant Dasari in this case, could pick and choose topics. While he
didn't get to most of the questions, the concept seemed to work.
Attendees even answered each other's questions, in cases where the
answers were simple. And
Dasari said at the end that he'd be posting the unanswered questions
to the Web, with answers provided by Parks analysts or, in a few
cases, the panelists.
From the
article, "Panel Session 2.0" by Craig Matsumoto
June
5, 2009 — Consumer Electronics Net
CONNECTIONS(TM): The Digital Living Conference & Showcase, hosted by
international research firm Parks Associates, featured three
days, June 2-4, of presentations and panel discussions from service
providers, CE companies, software and middleware developers, and many
other members of the consumer technology value chain.
Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates, and Retrevo's CEO Vipin
Jain opened the conference on June 3 with "Navigating the Changing CE
Purchase Process." The presentation offered insight into 2008 CE
purchase patterns, which showed consumers shifting away from spontaneity
in their purchase decisions. Then, Kurt Scherf,
VP, Parks Associates, moderated the session "Connected TV
Strategies," featuring IBM, AnySource Media, VIZIO, and Yahoo!, who
discussed the implications of adding Internet connectivity to the
televisions.
From the article, "CONNECTIONS(TM) Identifies Key Growth
Areas, Obstacles, and Opportunities for Industry Players"
June
5, 2009 — Research and Markets Press Release
"Mobile advertising is poised to take full advantage of opportunities
presented by the diffusion of advanced devices such as the smartphone,"
said
Heather Way, research analyst, Parks Associates. "Alongside
smartphone proliferation, subscriber growth to 3G network data plans
will further accelerate the advancement of mobile advertising in the
U.S. and abroad. Advertisers will begin to incorporate mobile into their
overall media campaigns as the advertising medium matures into a viable
marketing tool."
From the press release, "Mobile Advertising: Analysis & Forecasts
Q2 2009 - the Current Mobile Advertising Market as It Exists Today"
June
4, 2009 —
Light Reading
Verizon Communications Inc. director of product development and
management for video services, Joseph Ambeault, outlined the carrier's
wish list for developments in the TV services sector, during a keynote
speech Wednesday at the Connections conference organized by analyst firm
Parks Associates. From the
article, "Verizon Broadcasts Its TV Visions" by Craig Matsumoto
June
3, 2009 — Dallas Business Journal
A survey completed by Parks Associates found a correlation
between how much a person spends on a personal computer and his or her
education and income levels.
The Consumer Decision Process Annual Survey polled more than 5,000
U.S. consumers on their 2008 purchases and planned 2009 purchases. The
survey shows that for every $1,000 in income, households will pay $1
more for a PC. In addition, individuals with graduate degrees will spend
on average $100 more for a computer than those with only high school
degrees.
John Barrett, director of research for Dallas-based Parks
Associates, found the prices consumers pay for PCs to be noticeably
more variable when compared to other electronics.
From the
article, "PC purchases vary with education, income"
June
3, 2009 — Smart Meters
“As the building of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure in the U.S.
accelerates with the availability of federal stimulus funds, Z-Wave is
well positioned to play a leading role given its success overseas,” said
Bill Ablondi, director of Home Systems research with Parks
Associates.From the
article, "Z-Wave Takes Position For US Leading Role"
June
3, 2009 — RedOrbit
For each $1,000 in income, U.S. households will pay on average $1 more
for a PC, according to the Consumer Decision Process Annual Survey,
which has quantified the influence of income and education on the amount
consumers spend on specific CE products.International research firm
Parks Associates recently completed this survey of over 5,000
U.S. consumers on their 2008 purchases and 2009 purchase intentions. The
research, part of the Consumer Decision Process Service, examines
ownership and attitudes toward product categories such as PCs, MP3
players, LCD and connected TVs, home networks, and Blu-ray players.
"The prices consumers pay for PCs and laptops are remarkably elastic,
especially when compared to products such as DVD players, game consoles,
and home networks, where prices are basically flat across different
income and educational groups," said
John Barrett, director, research, Parks Associates. "These
results allow us to measure the impact of specific consumer attributes,
such as level of education, and use that to predict both the products
consumers are interested in and how much they'll pay for certain items."
For example, Barrett says, higher-income households would be more
willing to pay a little extra for a better laptop, whereas they see less
value in paying extra for a high-end DVD player. As a result, high- and
low-income households pay basically the same for a DVD player.
Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates, and Vipin Jain, CEO,
Retrevo, presented research from the Consumer Decision Process Annual
Survey on June 3 at CONNECTIONS(TM): The Digital Living Conference &
Showcase. Their presentation, Navigating the Changing CE Purchase
Process, discussed the impact of the recession and the need for
flexibility in selling CE to consumers, especially as the power of brand
has diminished.
From the
article, "Parks Associates Survey Identifies Impact of Education
and Income on Consumer PC Purchase Habits"
June
2, 2009 — Sigma Designs Press Release
Sigma Designs, Inc., a leader in digital media processing system-on-chip
(SoC) solutions for consumer electronics, today announced that Ken Lowe,
Sigma's vice president of strategic marketing, will be speaking at this
year's Parks Associates CONNECTIONS' Digital Living Conference.
Moderated by
Bill Ablondi, Director of Home Systems Research at Parks
Associates, panelists will discuss how the advancements in wireless
technologies enable new configurations and opportunities in the
connected home. This panel will discuss the technology trends, market
opportunities, and design challenges in bringing new capabilities to
market in familiar packages. Examples include a universal remote control
(URC) that controls lights or locks the front door via a mobile phone or
the ability for installers to connect security systems to garage doors,
lighting controls, and HVAC systems.
From the
press release, "Sigma Designs VP Speaks About New Roles for
Wireless Home Controls and Z-Wave at Connections 2009"
May
28, 2009 — Frame Media Press Release
Frame Media is riding the wave of rapid adoption of "connected" display
devices, or what Phillips calls "the 4th screen." In a recent study,
Parks Associates sees the connected consumer electronics market
almost doubling by 2013. A connected device is one that allows access to
files stored on a home network or the Internet, and can be anything from
a TV, to a Blu-Ray player, to a game console. By 2013, an estimated 100
million of these devices will be sold each year, compared to the 57
million that are expected to sell in 2009. Consumers will seek
entire-home access to media, and will require a terabyte of storage
space for their shared media. Frame Media has been forming alliances
with hardware providers such as Kodak, Samsung, and D-Link to
incorporate FrameChannel access into these devices. From the
press release, "Frame Media Expands FrameChannel® Service With
Content From Twitter, CNET, and Eventful"
May
28, 2009 — Wall Street Journal
The cable-cutting trend isn't just being driven by pinched personal
budgets. It also comes as younger consumers gravitate to popular and
free online video sites such as Google Inc.'s YouTube and Hulu.com, a
joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal, which is owned by
General Electric Co. and Vivendi. More content producers are also
offering their TV shows and movies online through services such as Apple
Inc.'s iTunes and Netflix.
Some 900,000 U.S. homes didn't pay for TV and relied solely on Web TV
last year, according to estimates from consulting firm Parks
Associates, which projects that the number will grow this year.
From the
press release, "More Households Cut the Cord on Cable" by
Christopher Lawton
May
7, 2009 — Home Cinema Choice
According to a report from data crunchers Parks Associates, worldwide
sales of internet-connected AV kit will top 100 million units by 2013. A
big number, sure, but the figure doesn't really surprise HCC, as most
new kit coming to market now already has networking capabilities: TVs,
Blu-ray players, games consoles, media streamers etc.
But according to Parks Associates, it’s consumer demand rather than
joined-up marketing which will drive the trend forwards. ‘People want
whole-home access to their personal content. At the same time, they're
very interested in bringing Internet content to the television,’ says
analyst Kurt Scherf.
From the article, "Internet connected AV sales to top 100m by
2013" by HCC Team
May
6, 2009 — Dallas Morning News
Providing plain old voice telephone service
was a profitable and growing business for more than 100 years, but that
run could be coming to an end.
Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst in Dallas with tech market research
firm Parks Associates, said there's no question that land-line
voice is a shrinking business. But it still has value, he said. Scherf
noted that, for all his tech savvy, he still hasn't dumped his land-line
phone, as making long-distance cellphone-to-cellphone calls is still an
exercise in dropped calls and crummy quality.
"I think it would be really tough for them to completely walk away
from that business," he said. "If it's just not bleeding them dry to
continue to provide that service, then I could see them holding on to
it."
From the article, "As land-line use falls, phone companies
aren't ready to pull the plug" by Victor Godinez
May
6, 2009 — Dealerscope
"Connected" consumer electronics appear set for a huge period of growth,
according to a study released this week by Parks Associates.
According to Parks' Home Networks for Consumer Electronics study,
the category will boast annual sales of 100 million units by 2013.
"Key consumer trends are aligning to drive this market," the firm's
vice president and principal analyst, Kurt Scherf,
said as part of the announcement. "People want whole-home access to
their personal content, which will increase the storage needs of the
average U.S. household to a terabyte. At the same time, consumers are
very interested in bringing Internet content to the television.
From the article, "Sales of Connected CE Seen Booming"
by Stephen Silver
May
6, 2009 — Smart House
Consumer demand for digital media and online content is booming in
Australia despite the economic downturn. Globally, annual sales of
connected CE devices is set to hit more than 100 million units by 2013,
according to a new Parks Associates report "Home Networks for
Consumer Electronics".
"Key consumer trends are aligning to drive this market," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
"People want whole-home access to their personal content, which will
increase the storage needs of the average U.S. household to a terabyte.
At the same time, consumers are very interested in bringing Internet
content to the television. For devices to offer a compelling value
proposition, they will have to feature connectivity within the home
network and to the services coming to the home."
Diverse user scenarios create multiple challenges for technology
developers, according to
Scherf, including
interface design as well as connectivity.
"Connected CE use cases will include access to many different
services and types of content, including video, gaming, user-generated
content, music, social networks, and customer care,"
Scherf said.
"Interface design will be an important area as users will need easy
access to their content and services."
From the article, "Demand For Consumer Electronics Booming" by David Richards
May
6, 2009 — SmartBrief
Sales of "connected" consumer-electronics products -- including TVs,
set-top boxes, servers, consoles and Blu-ray players -- will reach 100
million units by 2013, according to a new study by Parks Associates. Kurt Scherf
of Parks said the trend toward connected CE systems was fueled by
consumers who wanted "whole-home access" to content as well as the
ability to bring Web content to their TVs.
From the article, "Study: Unit sales of connected CE products
to hit 100 million by 2013"
May
5, 2009 — CrossLoop Press Release
According to a recent Parks Associates survey, mixed computer
households - including both PCs and Macs - are 38% more likely to have
reported the need for technical support in the past year. These
households are 55% more likely to use professional tech support services
to resolve home computer problems.
"As growing numbers of households are using both Macs and PCs, it
will be imperative that support vendors support this mixed environment,"
said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates.
"Adding Mac support will allow CrossLoop to extend its unique service
offerings to a growing number of households in need."
From the press release, "CrossLoop Now Provides Support for
Mac Users"
May
5, 2009 — Gamasutra
"Gaming has been a remarkably resilient category despite the downturn.
If I were Apple, my thoughts would definitely be turning to grabbing a
larger piece of low-hanging revenue in this area," Parks Associates
VP Kurt Scherf
says, according to TechNewsWorld.
From the article, "Apple Beefs Up Gaming Presence With New
Execs " by Leigh Alexander
May
5, 2009 — MacNewsWorld
"Gaming has been a remarkably resilient category despite the downturn," Kurt Scherf,
VP and principal analyst at Parks Associates , told MacNewsWorld.
"If I were Apple, my thoughts would definitely be turning to grabbing a
larger piece of low-hanging revenue in this area."
Still, it is difficult to guess how Apple wants to proceed, based on
Teversham's move alone, said
Scherf.
The iPhone has thousands of gaming apps, he noted. Indeed, Apple "has
transformed the way the gaming industry is earnings its profits." E
ducational games, in particular, are a burgeoning category, and if
Apple were to target it, it would want someone of Teversham's caliber
overseeing the operations,
Scherf mused. "No
matter what it is, though, it surely will be helpful to have someone who
has strong relationships with the game producers themselves."
From the article, "Is It 'Game On' for Apple?" by Erika
Morphy
May
5, 2009 — CEPro
Annual unit sales of "connected" consumer electronics products
is expected to nearly double by 2013, according to the Parks
Associates. The category, which allows users to access and display
photos and music on home networks and retrieve online contents like
games and videos, includes networked TVs, Blu-ray players, game
consoles, home media servers and set-top boxes.
More than 100 million units of these connected products will be sold
annually by 2013, according to a Parks report. Compare that to an
estimated 57million units that will be sold in 2009.
The stars are aligning for products that allow consumers to remain
connected and multi-task, according to Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
From the article, "‘Connected’ CE Sales Poised to Explode,
Driven by Consumer Demand" by Tom LeBlanc
May
1, 2009 — E-commerce Times
Parks Associates predicts that in the home of the future, one
method will not dominate the other -- i.e., cloud media versus media
server -- but instead, an adaptive scenario will evolve, bringing in
aspects of both systems, creating a completely new networking ecosystem
for the home. From the article, "Home Server vs. the
Cloud: Connecting Digital Devices" by Kurt Scherf
May
1, 2009 — TMCnet
A survey conducted by Parks Associates finds consumer use of tech
support has tripled since 2006 thus creating opportunities for service
providers, retailers, and third-party providers. One major reason for
users turning to tech support is the lack of time and/or expertise to
deal with the complications of today's technology, according to Customer
Support in the Digital Home.
“Consumers purchasing new technologies have less time and inclination
to solve the growing number of technology challenges in the home, while
the technology and threats such as viruses and malware have become more
complicated,” said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
This 2009 consumer survey from international research firm Parks
Associates reports more than 30 percent of consumers have used
in-store or in-home technical support to solve a computer problem, up
from ten percent in 2006.
The Customer Support in the Digital Home reported fifteen percent of
consumers have used professional tech support for home networking
problems, up from six percent in 2006. Parks Associates forecasts
U.S. revenues for PC and home networking troubleshooting services will
exceed $2 billion due in large part to growing consumer demand and
increased prevalence of connected devices.
From the article, "Study: Professional Tech Support Revenue
to Exceed $2 Billion by 2013" by Jessica Kostek
May
1, 2009 — BNET
Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks Associates, told me consumer
behaviors indicate they prefer a one-stop shopping experience when it
comes to watching online video, as opposed to clicking from site to
site. I suggested that in that case, YouTube has an advantage over Hulu
thanks to the number of users who upload their own content to the site,
but Scherf disagreed. “That’s not necessarily a competitive advantage
over sites that offer specifically premium content,” he told me.
According to Scherf, consumers are likely to migrate towards a single
site, like Hulu, where they can watch their favorite television shows.
“We’re going back towards a more walled-garden version of the Web [like
portals in the early days of the Internet] in that sense,” Scherf told
me.
Scherf believes there’s going to be even less room for a third
competitor like Joost or even Fox going forward, in which case the
battle will increasingly pitch YouTube against Hulu for which garden
party consumers will prefer to attend.
From the article, "Is Hulu Overtaking YouTube?" by
Michael Hickins
April
30, 2009 — CEPro
Here's some good news for all the tech support staffs out there:
the number of broadband households seeking your help has tripled since
2006, according to Parks Associates.
The research firm says revenues for the professional tech industry
will surpass $2 billion by 2013. Parks Associates finds that more
than 30 percent of consumers have used either in-store or in-home tech
support to solve a problem. That number was just 10 percent in 2006.
According to Parks Associates, demand for tech support has
increased because consumers have less time and knowledge of today's
complex technologies.
"The consumers purchasing new technologies have less time and
inclination to solve the growing number of technology challenges in the
home, while the technology and threats such as viruses and malware have
become more complicated," says Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
"As a result, they are choosing professional services and looking to
broadband service providers and retailers to provide digital home tech
support services. The companies that offer the best solutions at the
most competitive prices will come out ahead."
From the article, "Study: Revenue for Tech Support Industry
to Hit $2B by 2013" by Steve Crowe
April
28, 2009 — TMCnet
"Several factors are driving the connected consumer electronics market,
but none is more significant than the rise of premium access content
services - such as multichannel television and broadband Internet
offerings - and the continued trend of centralized digital media in the
home," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "The
pace of product and service development in this space will grow more
intense as the market is joined in force by CE manufacturers, service
providers, retailers, and the content industry."
From the article, "Home Networks for Consumer Electronics -
The Complete 2009 Review"
April
28, 2009 — Verizon Press Release
A recent study conducted by Parks Associates found that
respondents in general would be willing to pay $20 more per month to
have access to fiber-optic services in a multifamily dwelling.
From the press
release, "Verizon Wins the First 'Outstanding Multifamily Partner
Award,' at Broadband Properties Annual Summit"
April
28, 2009 — Verizon Press Release
A recent study conducted by Parks Associates found that respondents in
general would be willing to pay $20 more per month to have access to
fiber-optic services in a multifamily dwelling.
From the press
release, "Verizon, Other Fiber Builders Cautiously Optimistic About
Broadband Recovery"
April
27, 2009 — BroadbandCensus.com
Also speaking at the conference was
Bill Ablondi, director of home systems research for Parks
Associates. Ablondi said that four of the top ten amenities that
contribute to the sale or rental of a dwelling unit were tied to
broadband.From the article, "Verizon, Other Fiber Builders
Cautiously Optimistic About Broadband Recovery" by Drew Clark
April
22, 2009 — TVN Entertainment
Corporation
Press Release
“For household services such as the Internet and pay TV, recessionary
concerns have less impact,” said Kurt Scherf,
Principal analyst of Parks. “Consumers are more likely to cut
back on outside entertainment expenses before trimming household
services such as home telephone, pay TV and the Internet.”
From the press release, "TVN Entertainment Strikes Oscar Gold with
VOD Lineup"
April
21, 2009 — DiiVA Press Release
"With its ability to carry high-bandwidth streams and its support for
underlying home networking device discovery and content sharing
protocols such as DLNA, DiiVA has the opportunity to play a significant
role in creating a larger market for home multimedia networks," stated Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
market research firm that studies emerging consumer technologies. "With
major consumer electronics manufacturers joining the DiiVA consortium
and with the official release of the specification, DiiVA's presence in
the networked household is expected to grow significantly."
From the press release, "DiiVA Specification Ready for Design In,
Membership Expands to Global CE Leaders"
April
21, 2009 — TMCnet
With that as a backdrop, analysts at Parks Associates continue to
estimate that U.S. consumers are reluctant to engage in such cord
cutting, and that, as a result, demand for cable TV and related video
packages will remain “strong,” with revenues exceeding $11
ion by
2013.
“Currently 37 percent of U.S. digital cable customers use premium
video on demand regularly, up from 21 percent in late 2004,” says Kurt Scherf,
Parks Associates principal analyst. “The cable companies need to use
this type of service to combat challenges from telco IPTV services,
which grew over 110 percent in subscriptions from 2007 to 2008.”
From the article, "Still No Cord Cutting, Says Parks" by Gary Kim
April
21, 2009 — Radialpoint Press Release
“Digital home managed services constituted a $2.8 billion market in the
U.S. alone in 2008, and ISPs have a tremendous opportunity to deploy
these offerings as significant revenue-generating value-added services,”
said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President and Principal Analyst with Parks Associates.
“Radialpoint’s ISP-exclusive solution offers ISPs a one-stop shop for
such services – including security, online storage, media sharing and
premium support under the same umbrella. This positions Radialpoint as a
key global partner for the broadband community.”
From the press release, "Radialpoint Acquires Broadband Solution
Provider Casero, Establishing Itself as the Market Share Leader for
Managed IT Services for Internet Service Providers"
April
19, 2009 — BusinessWeek
Ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage, offered for free, could cut customer turnover
by 15%, Eagan estimates. What's more, Wi-Fi could help meet the growing
demand for so-called converged services, says Parks Associates analyst
Jayant Dasari. Customers increasingly want communications services that
seamlessly integrate voice, video, and Internet access—for instance, by
letting a person watch and record a movie on a home TV, a laptop, or a
mobile handset.
From the article, "Cablevision's New Wireless Bid: Wi-Fi Hotspots"
by Olga Kharif
April
17, 2009 — Broadband TV News
Broadband households in Europe and the US consistently rank ‘primetime
anytime VOD services’ as the most valuable service out of all TV 2.0
offerings, according to Parks Associates.
“Online video is not robbing primetime of its audience but
supplementing it,” said
Jayant Dasari, research analyst, Parks Associates, in a
statement. “The majority of US broadband households use online video to
catch up on their TV viewing, and 36% of those who pay for Internet
video content have increased consumption of primetime television. Moving
video from the PC to the TV is a natural progression, one that aligns
with consumers’ current behavior.”
“Terrestrial television is still a major source for viewers in many
of the major Western European markets including France, Italy, Spain,
and the UK,” added
Dasari. “Almost 44% of the television viewership in these markets
relies on terrestrial services. Digital terrestrial television will
continue to play an important role in the TV market in Europe over the
next five to ten years.”
From the article, "Global pay-TV subs set to grow" by Robert Briel
April
17, 2009 — TMCnet
According to
Jayant Dasari, research analyst at Parks Associates, most of
the U.S. broadband households use online video to catch up on their TV
viewing. Almost 36 percent of the viewers who pay for Internet video
content have increased consumption of primetime television. A market
research and consulting firm, Parks Associates studies home networks,
digital entertainment, wireless connectivity, broadband and internet
services.
Jayant Dasari, the author of the report also adds that terrestrial
television is still a major source for viewers in major Western European
markets like France, Italy, Spain, and U.K. Around 44 percent of the
television viewers in these markets rely on terrestrial services.
Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is expected to play an important
role in the TV market in Europe over the next five to ten years.
From the article, "TV Service Subscriptions to Exceed 1.4 Billion
by 2013" by Calvin Azuri
April
16, 2009 — Broadband TV News
Broadband households in Europe and the US consistently rank primetime
anytime VoD services, or 'catch-up TV', as the most valuable of all TV
2.0 offerings, according to a new report from US firm Parks
Associates.
"Online video is not robbing primetime of its audience but
supplementing it," said
Jayant Dasari, research analyst, Parks Associates. "The
majority of US broadband households use online video to catch up on
their TV viewing, and 36% of those who pay for Internet video content
have increased consumption of primetime television. Moving video from
the PC to the TV is a natural progression, one that aligns with
consumers' current behavior."
From the article, "Catch-up services ranked "most valuable" of TV
2.0 services"
April
15, 2009 — E-commerce Times
Regional differences in Europe make it difficult to offer broad,
pan-continental statements about the potential for social networking.
However, research indicates that an opportunity is forming to craft
relevant, ad-based strategies that complement the array of connected
services currently under development, writes Parks Associates' Kurt Scherf.
From the article, "Advertising Within Borders: Europe's Fragmented
Social Circles" by By Kurt Scherf
April
13, 2009 — Home Media Magazine
Following a first quarter that saw little or no pricing shift on Blu-ray
players, several retailers have slashed unit prices in addition to
marketing substantially discounted refurbished models.
Research firm Parks Associates said consumers are willing to
purchase a Blu-ray Disc player if priced no more than $50 above a
standard-DVD player.
From the article, "Retail Drops Blu-ray Player Prices, Ups Used
Selections" by Erik Gruenwedel
April
10, 2009 — Dallas Business Journal
Several factors add complexity to the process of deploying smart meters,
analysts say.
Bill Ablondi, a New York-based director of home systems research at
the market research firm Parks Associates, says utilities must
get approval from state regulators for whatever way they want to pursue
for paying for the meters. Then, he adds, “some utilities are deciding
what is the benefit to them. By and large, many are testing the water by
putting pilot programs in place to see if the meters work as advertised
and work properly.”
From the article, "Texas Instruments plots ‘smart’ meter play" by
Jeff Bounds
April
8, 2009 — Home Media Magazine
This market could translate into $250 million in additional revenues for
the consumer electronics industry, according to research firm Parks
Associates.“Access to additional content is the key demand
driver,” said
John Barrett, director of research, Parks Associates. “Most
people can get popular video titles through their pay-TV providers, but
if they want to watch niche or personal content on their TV, they have
to burn or buy DVDs. With a connected TV, they suddenly have lots more
options.”
From the article, "Report: 2.5M North American Homes Want Web TV,
Blu-ray At Right Price" by Erik Gruenwedel

April 8, 2009 — Smart Brief
Research shows nearly 2.5 million consumers are interested in buying a
broadband-connected TV, especially at a price point of $100 more than a
set that's not connected. A study by Parks Associates shows that
on-demand content is the main attraction of connected TVs, though
on-screen widgets and access to PC content are also desirable features.
From the article, "Study: 2.5 million would pay more for connected
TV"
April
8, 2009 — Audio Video Revolution
Consumers are looking for TVs that have easy access to the internet,
according to a study by Parks Associates. Over 2.5 million
households are looking for this technology, and would be willing to pay
a $100 premium for Internet-connected sets.From the article,
"Study Shows 2.5 Million Households Ready for Connected TV"
 April
8, 2009 — The Plain Dealer / Cleveland.com
Revol, a private company, won't say how many subscribers it has, but
said its customer base grew 8 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
"Right now, everyone is still gaining," said
Harry Wang, director of mobile product research at Parks
Associates, a technology research firm in Dallas. He said most
providers are seeing growth as people continue to drop their land lines
in favor of cell phones.
From the article, "Revol Wireless of Independence to expand
nationwide, add jobs" by Shaheen Samavati
April
7, 2009 — Red Herring
Apple just rolled out its DRM-free music with a three-tier pricing
structure, but it may end up doing little for the ailing music industry.
“I think tiered pricing cannot permanently reverse the trend of
declining sales in the music industry,” said
Harry Wang, director of health and mobile product research at
Parks Associates.
“This is a permanent change of consumer behavior,” added Mr.
Wang. “Any pricing scheme change or DRM lift will not erase the
detrimental impact from this new consumption behavior.”
From the article, "iTunes Pricing: Too Little, Too Late?" by
Michael Lee

April 7, 2009 — CE Pro
Nearly 2.5 million North American broadband households want to purchase
a connected TV, according to Parks Associates.
Consumers will purchase the Internet-connected TVs if priced at a
$100 premium over non-connected TVs, the study finds. That would turn
into $250 million in revenue for the consumer electronics industry,
Parks Associates says.
According to the study, video-on-demand content is the main
attraction consumers find in connected TVs. Other desired features
include: 33 percent of broadband households want on-screen widgets & 27
percent want to access content stored on home computers
"Access to additional content is the key demand driver," says
John Barrett, director of research, Parks Associates. "Most
people can get popular video titles through their pay-TV providers, but
if they want to watch niche or personal content on their TV, they have
to burn or buy DVDs. With a connected TV, they suddenly have lots more
options."
From the article, "2.5M Households Ready to Purchase Connected
TVs" by Steve Crowe

April 3, 2009 — Cable 360 Net
The focus at the Parks Associates' luncheon Thursday was consumer
demand and how the cable industry can position itself to be the one to
meet it.
From the article, "Cable Show: Meeting Consumer Demand" by Monta
Monaco Hernon
April 2, 2009 — RedOrbit
"This year's event is especially important given the current economy,"
said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates. "Over 60% of
U.S. Internet households indicated they would cut out-of-home expenses
first, including travel and dining, and we are already seeing these
changes, with 35% now watching fewer movies in the theater compared to
two years ago. This recessionary shift in consumer habits could benefit
service providers and CE companies, provided they are focused on
bringing new entertainment experiences to the home. CONNECTIONS(TM) will
focus on these opportunities as consumer spending shifts to in-home
entertainment and services."
From the article, "Parks Associates Addresses Connected CE,
Digital Home Support, Controls, and Advanced Media and Services at
CONNECTIONS"
April
1, 2009 — Fox Business
"In response to consumer demand for sophisticated home networking
functionality, service providers continue to develop robust multi-room
DVR strategies to build and reinforce their subscriber base," said
Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
"We recently collected data among U.S. broadband households and of those
surveyed, 43% find multi-room DVR features appealing, and 16% are
willing to pay extra to receive this feature."
From the article, "Macrovision's Connected Platform to Support
Tru2way(TM) Technology to Enable Multi-Room Digital Video Recorder
Applications"
April
1, 2009 — Research and Markets Press Release
Social networking is moving to the television, driven by a young
audience interested in video features such as multiplayer games, chat,
and content discovery. This trend will help increase U.S. ad spending in
social media to almost $3 billion by 2013, according to Parks
Associates.
The international research firm, in its report Social Media &
User-Generated Content, finds over one-fourth of broadband users ages
18-24 are interested in social media features on the TV. Key
applications include multiplayer gaming, in-program chat, and "most
watched" lists. At the same time, 23% of U.S. broadband households want
to view content from sites like YouTube and Flickr on their TVs.
From the press release, "Social Media & User-generated
Content (Q1 09), Including Market Forecasts for Social Networking
Through 2013"
April
1, 2009 — Macrovision Press Release
“In response to consumer demand for sophisticated home networking
functionality, service providers continue to develop robust multi-room
DVR strategies to build and reinforce their subscriber base,” said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. “We recently
collected data among U.S. broadband households and of those surveyed,
43% find multi-room DVR features appealing, and 16% are willing to pay
extra to receive this feature.”
From the press release, "Macrovision’s Connected Platform to
Support Tru2way™ Technology to Enable Multi-Room Digital Video Recorder
Applications"
April
1, 2009 — Home Media Magazine
The Connected Platform solution would let consumers access not just DVR-recorded
content, but also music, video, photos and Internet content from a
variety of locations with compliant data devices.
According to Kurt Scherf,
VP and principal analyst at Parks Associates, 43% of U.S.
broadband users found multiroom DVR features appealing, and 16% would
pay more to receive the feature.
From the article, "Macrovision Expands DVR Capabilities" by
John Latchem
April
1, 2009 — xChange Magazine
Some 2.5 million broadband households in the United States and Canada
are ready to purchase an Internet-connected TV if priced at a $100
premium over regular TVs. This figure translates into $250 million in
additional revenues for the consumer electronics industry, according to
new research from Parks Associates.
Parks Associates' latest consumer study, Digital Media
Evolution, gauges market demand for Internet-connected devices and the
applications. The study covers digital cameras, TVs, digital photo
frames and Blu-ray players.
From the article, "2.5M Set to Buy Internet-Connected TV"
April
1, 2009 — E-commerce Times
Social networking sites like Facebook are growing fast, and they mostly
rely on ads for revenue. Bringing in more advertisers is an important
step because this market is not being monetized effectively, writes
Parks Associates' Kurt Scherf.
Monetization inefficiencies abound, mainly because brands treat
advertising in social media the same as they treat advertising in
traditional media.
From the article, "Social Networks: From Media to
Monetization to Multiplatform" by Kurt Scherf
March
31, 2009 — Los Angeles Times
In another bit o' news about online TV, a report released today by
Parks Associates estimates that 2.5 million Americans and Canadians
would be willing to pay up to $100 extra for a TV if it could connect to
the Internet. What they want most, according to Parks' research
director
John Barrett, is the ability to watch TV shows and movies on demand.
Ahh, if only set manufacturers would provide TVs that could connect to
any online VOD service, rather than just a hand-picked few.... Anyway,
consider those households the first adopters for portals such as Boxee,
which offer a TV-style user interface for online video.
From the article, "First on Mars, Take 2" by Jon Healey
March
31, 2009 — Broadband TV News
The International research firm Parks Associates reports that
approximately 2.5 million broadband households in the US and Canada are
ready to purchase an internet-connected TV if priced at a $100 (€75.7)
premium over regular TVs. This figure translates into $250 million in
additional revenues for the consumer electronics industry.
Parks Associates’ latest consumer study, Digital Media
Evolution, gauges market demand for Internet-connected devices and the
applications consumers want to use in conjunction with this new
capability.
From the article, "North Americans ready to buy connected TV"
by Robert Briel
March
29, 2009 — The Star-Ledger
Although hard figures aren't available, the number of cord cutters is
still small, said Kurt Scherf,
vice president at Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market
research firm. Some estimates peg it at just 1 percent of the total TV
audience. That's partly due to the drawbacks of online video.
Watching video on a PC isn't as comfortable as watching TV while
relaxing on a couch. And the quality of internet video, while improving,
still isn't as good.
From the article, "More American TV viewers are ditching
cable to watch shows online" by Venuri Siriwardane
March
27, 2009 — Telephony Online
VOD, one of the first and most successful instances of interactivity,
has had a clear-cut business case since day one, but others forms of
interactivity are less proven. According to recent research from
Parks & Associates, however, there is a place for paid apps on the
TV. Parks’ surveys found that 33% of US broadband households were
interested in TV widgets and might even pay for the really good ones –
either in the price of a TV or as an additional subscription cost.
Outside of that, advertising could be where the real money lies,
according to Kurt Scherf,
Parks’ vice president and principal analyst.
“Widgets, in and of themselves, present the opportunity,”
Scherf said.
“Verizon can deploy a feature like a casual games service and, using
EBIF, allow the sales team to sell static ads that wrap around the user
interface for that application itself. Any ad revenue that the operator
can get is a plus for them at this point.”
Existing models today shut service providers out of the majority of
the revenue in advertising,
Scherf added. For
every hour of programming they deliver, they traditionally get two
minutes to sell the ad slots – the rest of the ads are sold by the
programmer. For the operator, the next best thing to introducing more
minutes to the hour is taking advantage of interactive apps to sell ads,
he said. Services like t-commerce to place an order direct on the TV
screen or telescoping into ads to receive more information, on the other
hand, just haven’t been practical to do yet. These features have been
discussed for some time, but the business model – and content rights –
have yet to be worked out yet, Scherf said.
From the article, "Will interactivity equal revenues?" by
Sarah Reedy
March
26, 2009 — Read Write Web
New research from Parks Associates found that many Gen Y TV
viewers are ready for a change when it comes to their
television-watching experience. According to a recent report, over
one-fourth of users ages 18-24 are interested in having more social
media features integrated into their TV. This data should come as good
news to companies like Verizon and Yahoo!, both of whom have been
pushing their new social networking widgets.From the article, "Gen
Y Says: 'I Want My Social TV!' " by Sarah Perez
March
24, 2009 — Top Tech News
"The lead application is for doctors to look up information so they can
be up-to-date with the latest [Food & Drug Administration] warnings and
new drugs to help them write prescriptions," says
Harry Wang, director of health and mobile research at Parks
Associates in Dallas. "But in the future you'll see devices like the
iPhone be a portal to a lot more medical information like patient
records and lab results. They'll eventually be writing prescriptions
directly from their phones."
From the article, "Paging Dr. iPhone: A Physician's Digital
Reference" by Arik Hesseldahl
March
23, 2009 — MediaPost Blogs
The powerful viral exchange of communications and content between
family, friends and affinity group members is morphing so quickly that
even the Internet's social leaders are straining to generate related
dollars. Facebook's latest round of modifications makes it more
Twitter-like, and MySpace's music exchange among friends has become an
effective springboard for sales. Hulu.com, TV.com, MTV, AOL, and Disney
are among the big guns that are feverishly integrating social-networking
features. And that doesn't take into account the bloggers that are just
a "noisy minority," says Parks Associates analyst Kurt Scherf.
...the pervasive impact of social networking will far exceed
conventional projections: 95 million U.S. social network users by 2013
(up from 76 million this year) and as much as $2.9 billion advertising
revenues (up from about $700 million in 2009), according to Parks
Associates.
From the blog posting, "Wanted: Financially Viable Social
Networks" by Diane Mermigas
March
23, 2009 — BusinessWeek
Diamond's deepening dependence on health-related mobile apps underscores
the potential that the iPhone and other Web-enabled wireless handsets
can play in overhauling the way physicians and hospitals dispense heath
care. "The lead application is for doctors to look up information so
they can be up-to-date with the latest [Food & Drug Administration]
warnings and new drugs to help them write prescriptions," says
Harry Wang, director of health and mobile research at Parks
Associates in Dallas. "But in the future you'll see devices like the
iPhone be a portal to a lot more medical information like patient
records and lab results. They'll eventually be writing prescriptions
directly from their phones."
From the article, "Paging Dr. iPhone: Tapping a Physician's
Digital Reference" by Arik Hesseldahl

March
19, 2009 — Everywire
Parks Associates’ VP and Principal Analyst, Kurt Scherf,
has been a long time observer of home networks, IPTV and broadband
technologies.
Kurt’s take on
G.hn is that it is an important step to resolving much of the confusion
that has existed in the powerline networking space with the existence of
three major specifications – Universal Powerline Association (led by
Spanish chipmaker DS2), Panasonic’s HD-PLC (supported by Japan’s
Consumer Electronics Powerline Communication Alliance, or CEPCA), and
HomePlug. Standardizing on a powerline networking solution for the
service provider community was critical, according to
Scherf, because it is among broadband service providers where the
need for powerline bridges between modems and set-top boxes are critical
in reducing CapEx costs for the installation of triple-play and IPTV
services. Despite the current economic slowdown,
Scherf points to home networking deployments as but one example of
continued investments by service providers to innovate with new services
and to seek ways to lower deployment costs at the same time.
From the article, "The Everywire Conversation with Parks
Associates’ VP and Principal Analyst, Kurt Scherf" by
Alan Weinkrantz
March
18, 2009 — San Francisco Chronicle
Criticism about Facebook's changes range from the site being too
cluttered to features that don't work to the service's new resemblance
to Twitter, the increasingly popular micro-blogging site.
"Unfortunately, the end user isn't in charge of the design," said Kurt Scherf,
an analyst with Parks Associates. "It's about whatever is going
to maximize revenue, page views and advertising dollars down the road."
A relatively new Facebook user himself,
Scherf said he's
having trouble finding requests from friends to connect following the
latest redesign. But he said Facebook isn't in danger of any long-term
damage. People have spent so much time personalizing their Facebook
pages that it's difficult for them to defect to other sites.
From the article, "Facebook changes again unpopular with users" by
Verne Kopytoff

March
18, 2009 — MarketWatch
Facebook's recent redesign has not made the Internet working site easier
for people to keep in touch with friends and families, U.S. critics say.
"Unfortunately, the end user isn't in charge of the design," said Kurt Scherf,
an analyst with Parks Associates. "It's about whatever is going
to maximize revenue, page views and advertising dollars down the road."
Scherf, a Facebook user, said since the redesign he is having
trouble finding requests from friends to connect.
From the article, "Critics decry Facebook's new look"
March
17, 2009 — TechNewsWorld
In their current incarnation, free-to-play massively multiplayer online
role-playing games are positioned between social networks on the one
hand and subscription-based MMORPGs and niche virtual worlds on the
other. Parks Associates data show that nearly half of MMORPG
players in the U.S. play only free-to-play games.
In 2008, a larger percentage of MMORPG players in the U.S. played
free-to-play games than subscription-based games. Parks Associates
data show that roughly 46 percent of MMORPG players in the U.S. play
only free-to-play games.
From the article, "Free-to-Play MMORPGs: A Fertile Yet Fragmented
Field"
March
17, 2009 — E-commerce Times
The prediction of 1 billion .tel identities is based on trends in mobile
phone adoption around the world. Parks Associates forecasts that
by 2013 there will be 4.5 mobile phone users worldwide. This compares to
3 billion in February 2008, when the International Telecommunication
Union announced that the total number of global cell phone subscribers
had exceeded half the population of the globe.
From the article, "Social Media Revolution Will Be .Tel-evised" by
Anthony Mitchell
March
16, 2009 — Mariner Press Release
According to a 2008 report by Parks Associates, European
operators have still only penetrated around 10% of their service
markets, despite Europe holding the global top spot in terms of IPTV
subscribers. With strong growth from 2006-2007 in major countries such
as France, Belgium, Italy and Spain, 2010 is expected to see further
growth acceleration in IPTV deployment. The TV market remains fragmented
yet competitive while the smaller geographical territories make the
build-out of country-specific broadband networks less costly.
From the press release, "Mariner Sets Sail for the European
IPTV Market"
March
15, 2009 — ZDNet
According to a new survey of U.S. households with broadband access by
research firm Parks Associates, the signs are fairly encouraging.
A third of respondents said they would be interested in buying a
widget-enabled TV, even if they had to pay extra for it, while slightly
more said they would buy a set-top box that serves up widgets. But, not
surprisingly, consumers are even more interested in their home theater
equipment being able to stream video and movies from online services. In
fact, nearly 50 percent of respondents said they’d purchase a set-top
box that streams videos.
From the article, "Do consumers want widgets on their HDTVs?
Survey says definitely maybe" by Sean Portnoy
March
15, 2009 — CopperGate Press Release
"The biggest benefit of the new CopperGate solution is it allows MSOs to
quickly ramp up premium service offerings such as HDTV, VoIP, and very
high speed Internet to residents without the tremendous cost for
retrofitting with CAT-5," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "This
new product will be particularly well-positioned in Asian markets
because of the rapidly-growing middle class of consumers who are seeking
these amenities for their apartments." The new CopperGate MDU solution
increases service providers' profits by enabling them to: Reduce initial
capital expense.
From the press release, "CopperGate Doubles EoC Performance
for MDU and Hospitality Industries"
March
12, 2009 — Tampa Tribune / Tampa Bay Online
"Unless you are just swamped with everything else in your life, you
probably don't wait more than a week to watch your recorded shows," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president of the media and technology research firm Parks
Associates. "Granted, I still have a pile of 'My Name Is Earl' shows
on my DVR that I haven't gotten to in weeks."
From the article, "DVR Fallout: More People Delaying Season
Premiere Watching" by Richard Mullins
March
12, 2009 — ipTV News
US research firm Parks Associates is predicting that there will be in
excess of 100mn households worldwide subscribing to IPTV services by
2013, giving a compound annual growth rate of approximately 38%,
according to the company. Kurt Scherf,
Principal Analyst at Parks Associates, commented: "Europe will
have over 38 million households with telco IPTV services by 2013, but
the market will be characterised not by its homogeneity but by
differences in programming, interactive applications, and value-added
features." The firm released the forecasts as part of the build-up to
its CONNECTIONS Europe Summit event, taking place in France later this
month.
From the article, "Parks Associates anticipates over 100mn IPTV
households globally by 2013"
March
12, 2009 — TMCnet
According to Parks Associates, broadband has indeed transformed
video viewing habits in western Europe, where more than 30 percent of
broadband households have watched a film or TV program online in the
past six months. Yet, according to the firm, for all the countries
surveyed – the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France – more
than 80 percent of broadband households prefer a more traditional option
for viewing video, including going to a theater or watching a DVD. Many
consumers are watching video online only because of the availability of
free content, both legitimate and illegitimate, the firm says.From
the article, "Report: Western Europe Added 17 Million Digital Households
in 2008" by Michael Dinan
March
12, 2009 — Tampa Tribune / Tampa Bay Online
A recent study found 17 percent of U.S. households watch TV episodes on
a home computer and 8 percent hooked a PC directly to a TV to watch
shows on a bigger screen, according to Parks Associates, a
technology research company. Most people said they wanted to watch shows
free or avoid ads.
Growing broadband use helps the trend along, and 83 million American
households already have broadband, according to Parks Associates.
From the article, "Internet may provide cheap alternative to
TV" by Richard Mullins
March
11, 2009 — Research and Markets Press Release
"Social media can be an extremely profitable market for advertisers and
media companies," said Anton Denissov, a digital media analyst with
Parks Associates. "However, it is radically different from
traditional media and would require new and unique business models to
monetize the market successfully."
From the press release, "Social Media & User-Generated Content"
March
11, 2009 — TMCnet
Market research and consulting company Parks Associates recently
released a new report, ‘Social Media & User-Generated Content,’ which
found social networking on television will soon be a trend that helps
increase U.S. advertising spending in social media to almost $3 billion
by 2013.
"For younger consumers in particular, their appetite for social
experiences don't end on the computer screen but are enhanced via their
access on TVs and mobile phones," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. "This
expansion of social media has implications for service providers,
advertisers, and CE manufacturers as well as the networking sites."
From the article, "Report: Social Media on TV Helps Service
Providers and Advertisers" by Jayashree Adkoli
March
11, 2009 — Research and Markets Press Release
"Millions of U.S. gamers are already paying to play different kinds of
online games," said
Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. "As online gaming
further diversifies gamer audience and introduces new genres and
business models, gaming industry revenue mix will inevitably continue to
shift towards online gaming."
From the press release, "Networked Gaming: Driving the Future
2009"
March
10, 2009 — Here's How!
Revenue for gaming is anticipated to top US$1 billion by 2013, says
market research firm Parks Associates; and the company pegs
social networking as an area of growth for that industry.
"Game companies should use social networks and gamer communities as
marketing and distribution channels for their new and existing games,"
advises
Stuart Sikes, President of Parks Associates. "Gaming has
proven remarkably recession-proof, so as companies try to capture
subscriber dollars, these offerings will serve as differentiators in a
very competitive market."
From the article, "Gaming Revenue to Top US$1B" by
Christine Persaud
March
10, 2009 — DailyTech
TV viewers who kick back on the couch in their living room to watch a
movie or popular TV show now have more power than ever over the content
they can watch.
Another analyst, Kurt Scherf
from Parks Associates, said "It's just become amazing to watch
this space," when talking about TV viewing.
From the article, "The Digital Living Room Continues to Take
Shape" by Michael Barkoviak
March
10, 2009 — Tampa Tribune / Tampa Bay Online
Thanks to an awful economy, more Americans are eyeballing any monthly
bills they can reduce - such as cable TV. True, it's simple to go with a
lower-tier package with fewer channels, but that can mean doing without
a favorite channel.
A recent study found 17 percent of U.S. households watch TV episodes
on a home computer and 8 percent hooked a PC directly to a TV to watch
shows on a bigger screen, according to Parks Associates, a
technology research company. Most people said they wanted to watch shows
free or avoid ads.
From the article, "Internet May Provide Cheap Alternative To
TV" by
Richard Mullins
March
8, 2009 — Mercury News
The digital living room is still under construction, but consumers can
now get a glimpse of what it might look like. The electronics industry
has long dreamed of giving consumers on-demand access in their living
rooms to a universe of movies, music and other entertainment content and
information at the touch of a button. Recent announcements from
electronics companies, Hollywood studios, Internet firms and cable
networks suggest that dream is becoming a reality.
With all the recent changes, "it's just become amazing to watch this
space," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
research and consulting firm.
From the article, "'Digital living room' getting closer" by
Troy Wolverton
March
6, 2009 — About-Electronics.EU
Video-on-demand (VoD) libraries and widgets will be the first generation
of video services driving adoption of connected television experiences
in the U.S., according to international research firm Parks
Associates.
Parks Associates, in its new white paper From Boob Tube to
YouTube: Consumers and TV, reports strong interest among U.S. broadband
households for VoD libraries and TV widgets, which are Web-like displays
that show customized news, weather, sports, or traffic information. In
particular, 33% are interested in widgets, and almost 50% are interested
in premium Web content, including TV shows and movies, through a
connected set-top box.
From the article, "Web TV? 33% of homes want it, says US
research"
March
6, 2009 — Tampa Tribune / Tampa Bay Online
A recent study found 17 percent of U.S. households watch TV episodes on
a home computer, and 8 percent hooked a PC directly up to a TV to watch
shows on a bigger screen, according to Parks Associates, a
technology research company. Most of the time, people said they wanted
to watch shows for free or avoid ads.
No single product makes the entire experience possible. Rather, TV
viewers must handle a range of gadgets, programs and links, with
segments of the chain constantly evolving: Boxee with more shows, Hulu's
shifting catalog, PC speeds improving, easier connections to the TV.
Growing broadband use helps the trend along, and already 83 million
American households have broadband, according to Parks Associates.
From the article, "Cable Isn't Your Only Option For Watching
TV" by
Richard Mullins
March
5, 2009 — engadgetHD
Parks Associates new white paper From Boob Tube to YouTube:
Consumers and TVs breaks down consumer interest in all the new features
popping up in televisions of late, like VOD access and various widget
services, finding almost 50% are interested in "premium web content"
like TVs and movies delivered through a set-top box, and 33% showing
interest in widgets. VP of Parks Associates Kurt Scherf
sees this as just the beginning, with customers making hardware
purchasing decisions and subscription choices based on the availability
advanced video services. So far so good, but we guess the real test
comes when these new TVs hit the shelves later this year.
From
the article, "Analyst: Nearly half of broadband households are
interested in Internet TV" by
Richard Lawler
March
5, 2009 — CISCO Press Release
According to Parks Associates, eight million households in the
U.S. have entertainment devices connected to the network in the home.
This is expected to grow to more than 30 million households by year-end
2013.
From
the press release, "Cisco Adds to Media-Enabled Home with New
Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Products"
March
5, 2009 — TMCnet
Research firm Parks Associates has indicated in its new white
paper, “From Boob Tube to YouTube: Consumers and TV,” that more than 33
percent of U.S. broadband households are showing a strong interest in
Web-enhanced features such as widgets for connected TVs and
set-top-boxes (STBs).
The report also indicates that nearly 50 percent of U.S. viewers are
interested in premium Web content such as video-on-demand (VoD)
libraries, including TV shows and movies, through a connected set-top
box. Web-like displays that show customized news, weather, sports, or
traffic information are the ones that have attracted the viewers the
most, said the research firm.
"Broadband households are growing accustomed to viewing video off the
Internet," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. "Demand for
Web and user-generated content will increase, and those desires will
influence their CE purchases and service provider choices. Widgets and
VoD libraries will be the first in a long line of advanced video
services people will want in their living rooms."
Scherf also
said that consumers are responding favorably to enhanced interactive
features and are also willing to pay - either on the price of a
television or as an additional subscription cost - for certain features.
Parks Associates said that the present connected TV research at
CONNECTIONS Europe in Nice, France, and also at the Cable Show.
From the article, "Report: Increased Interest in Web-Enhanced
Features on TV" by
Jayashree Adkoli
March
4, 2009 — E-commerce Times
Consumers are decreasing their cinema and DVD viewing because the
Internet now offers alternative forms of entertainment, online video
being just one of them. They still retain a preference for watching
videos offline, but overall use is decreasing due to Internet use, which
boosts online video in the process. A second factor is the "free
factor." A notable percentage of broadband users watch videos online
only because they are free. Conversely, the percentage who would pay for
a download rather than a DVD is quite small. Even a general test of home
vs. cinema viewing is revealing -- a lackluster percentage of consumers
prefer in-home viewing.
From
the article, "Europe's Mercurial Online Video Habits" by
John Barrett
March
3, 2009 — Mercury News
The partnership may bring the digital living room one step closer to
reality. That's the idea of making available at the touch of a button on
consumers' entertainment centers a universe of movies, TV shows, music
and other content.
"It's a significant step,'' said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
research and consulting firm.
From the article, "Roku teams with Amazon to stream videos" by
Troy Wolverton
March
3, 2009 — Western Digital Press Release
Twenty-six percent of broadband households worldwide find it very
appealing to be able to play PC-stored content on their TV, and the
majority of consumers buying network storage cite as important the
ability to serve content to other devices (58 percent), according to a
recent Parks Associates studies (Aug. 2008).
From
the press release, "WD Announces 8TB Capacity on ShareSpace Network
Storage Systems"
March
3, 2009 — Home Media Magazine
More than 33% of American households with broadband want Web features
for their Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes, according to a new
report from research firm Parks Associates.
“Broadband households are growing accustomed to viewing video off the
Internet,” said Kurt Scherf,
VP and principal analyst and Parks Associates. “Demand for Web and
user-generated content will increase, and those desires will influence
their CE purchases and service-provider choices. Widgets and VOD
libraries will be the first in a long line of advanced video services
people will want in their living rooms.”
From the article, "Report: People Want Web features, Premium
Content on TVs" by
Chris Tribbey
February
27, 2009 — TechRadar.com
Have you ever paid for online video? If so, you're in the minority,
according to a new survey by international research firm Parks
Associates. It found that while 31 per cent of broadband households
in Western Europe have downloaded a movie or TV show for free in the
last six months, only 8 per cent have paid for an Internet download.
"While you always expect free to outpace for-pay offerings, the real
problem emerges for content and solution providers when analysing
consumers' preferred means of watching video," said
John Barrett, director, research, Parks Associates.
From the article, "Online video only growing because it's free" by
Mark Harris
February
25, 2009 — Joystiq
International research firm Parks Associates envisions a bright
future for casual gaming. The firm predicts the "premium" casual games
business will be worth a very cool $1 billion by 2013 and the key to all
of it is social networking.
Parks Associates president
Stuart Sikes says "a persistent identity and integration with social
network sites" will allow casual gaming to maintain its core audience,
while expanding its reach at the same time." As companies try to capture
subscriber dollars, these offerings will serve as differentiators in a
very competitive market," he added. He says social networks and other
game communities should been seen as marketing and distribution
channels.
From the article, "Analyst: Casual gaming to top $1 billion by
2013, social networking key" by David Hinkle
February
25, 2009 — GIGAOM
To folks keeping tabs on the rise of free-to-play games, Quake Live is
just another entrant in an emerging market. No one has a concrete
picture of free-to-play revenues, but online “gaming phenomena” (like
casual games and digital distribution services) generated over $2
billion in 2008, estimates Parks Associates. Free-to-play
massively multiplayer games seized $129 million, or 15 percent of total
MMO revenues in 2008, estimates the firm.
From the article, "Quake Live May Spark Gaming Industry Shake-up"
by Mary Jane Irwin
February
25, 2009 — Smart Brief
Vendors of personal health records and other customized technologies
could earn $460 million in yearly revenue by 2013 by zeroing in on the
disease-management industry, according to a report from consulting
company Parks Associates. The sector needs to use a new service
model that incorporates both "human expertise" and numerous "high-tech
tools," a Parks director said.
From the article, "Study: Personal health IT vendors should target
disease management"
February
25, 2009 — MediaPost's Online Media Daily
Brands looking to gain loyalty and reach into consumers' wallets might
want to take a closer look at video games, according to a study released
Tuesday by Parks Associates.
The market has begun to gain traction across the board. Premium
casual games, for example, will exceed $1 billion in revenue by 2013.
Subscription services will become a major driver for growth in the
casual game industry, increasing from $138 million to $417 million
between 2008 and 2013, according to the research firm. Video game makers
are reaching beyond traditional target markets to find new buyers.
"Take a look at Wii, for example," said
Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. "Nintendo managed
to capture a market segment who didn't think of themselves as gamers."
From the article, "Parks: Casual Gaming Revenue To Top $1 Billion
By '13" by Laurie Sullivan
February
25, 2009 — Smart House
Family gaming is set to be one of the biggest growth generators in the
consumer technology market with research Company Park Associates
forecasting that it will generate over $1 billion a year in revenue by
2013.
Parks Associates claims hat social and community features can
help companies in casual gaming expand beyond their traditional target
demographic of women ages 35-54. Offering features such as a persistent
identity and integration with social network sites allows companies to
maintain their core audience while broadening their appeal.
"Game companies should use social networks and gamer communities as
marketing and distribution channels for their new and existing games,"
said
Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. "Gaming has proven
remarkably recession-proof, so as companies try to capture subscriber
dollars, these offerings will serve as differentiators in a very
competitive market."
From the article, "Family Gaming Set To Be Billion Dollar Industry
By 2013" by David Richards
February
24, 2009 — Game Daily
Parks Associates today released its new report titled "Networked
Gaming: Driving the Future II." In this study, the firm projects that
the premium casual gaming market will exceed $1 billion in revenue by
2013. Parks also expects that over 20 million gamers will be engaged in
free-to-play MMORPGs by that same date.
"Game companies should use social networks and gamer communities as
marketing and distribution channels for their new and existing games,"
said
Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. "Gaming has proven
remarkably recession-proof, so as companies try to capture subscriber
dollars, these offerings will serve as differentiators in a very
competitive market."
From the article, "Casual Gaming Industry to Exceed $1 Billion by
2013" by David Radd
February
24, 2009 — TechNewsWorld
"Have there been any complaints about outages related to Google's other
hosted services, like its productivity suite? If there have, then yes,
I'd say there's room to be concerned. If not, and it's only isolated to
e-mail, then -- unfortunately -- this characterizes all of the Web-based
e-mail services, so I'm not sure that it does damage to their ability to
offer hosted services," Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst at Parks Associates, told TechNewsWorld.
From the article, "Will Gfail Undermine Gmail's Enterprise
Efforts?" by Walaika Haskins
February
23, 2009 — TMCnet
According to Parks Associates, broadband has indeed transformed
video viewing habits in Western Europe, where more than 30 percent of
broadband households have watched a film or TV program online in the
past six months. Yet, according to the firm, for all the countries
surveyed – the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France – more
than 80 percent of broadband households prefer a more traditional option
for viewing video, including going to a theater or watching a DVD. Many
consumers are watching video online only because of the availability of
free content, both legitimate and illegitimate, the firm says.From
the article, "Report: Americans Are Watching More TV than Ever,
Including Online" by Michael Dinan
February
23, 2009 — ADWEEK
But as the company continues to struggle to find a sustainable revenue
model while catering to an increasingly vocal user base, many believe
that Facebook will soon impose some sort of tax or revenue sharing
requirement on apps companies. "A deal of that sort is probably in the
works," observed Anton Denissov, digital media analyst, Parks
Associates.
From the article, "Facebook Grapples With Revenue and Data" by
Mike Shields, Mediaweek
February
23, 2009 — TMCnet
A recent report from Parks Associates indicates that providers of
personal health technologies such as health monitoring devices and
personal health records (PHR) can generate over $460 million in revenue
in 2013 by targeting the disease management (DM) industry.
Parks Associates is a market research and consulting company
specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services.
Their latest report titled “Disease Management Industry and High-Tech
Adoption” says that the catalysts for accelerated technology spending
over the next five years are changes in the healthcare landscape, Obama
administration’s stimulus package and reform initiatives. The Disease
Management Industry and High-Tech Adoption highlights challenges and
opportunities and discusses technology’s role in driving innovations in
new care management models.
Harry Wang, director of Health and Mobile Product Research, Parks
Associates noted that people are increasingly demanding
transformation of their healthcare system. If the DM sector doesn’t act
quickly it may become obsolete due to the competing care management
models. According to
Wang, technology vendors that are familiar with the unique
characteristics of the DM business and can show the clear and immediate
benefits of their solution within this context have more chances to win
these contracts.
From the article, "Report: Personal Health Technology Spending to
Exceed in 2013" by Anuradha Shukla

February
23, 2009 — engadgetHD
Given just how few Europeans are actually biting on pay-HDTV, we suppose
we're not too surprised to see the results from Parks Associates
Research's latest study. In looking at a number of European nations, the
firm found that some 80 percent of broadband households "prefer a more
traditional option for viewing video, including going to the cinema or
watching a DVD."
John Barrett, director of research at the company, noted that it
"will be difficult for companies to sell video streams and downloads to
consumers in Europe when there is this undercurrent of reluctance." Of
course, we're not sure we believe all this doom and gloom -- surely it's
just a matter of time before Euro cable companies are pulling the same
trick as Comcast and TWC are looking to do. Or, so we hope.
From the article, "Study shows Europe slow to bite on internet TV
viewing" by Darren Murph
February
22, 2009 — Telecommunications Industry News
Americans will spend more than $500 million annually on mobile imaging
applications by the year 2013, according to a recent study by Parks
Associates.
By 2013, nearly 70% of handsets sold in the U.S. will come equipped
with a camera of 2-megapixels or more, researchers predicted, noting
that consumers will respond to this trend by making greater use of
mobile imaging software, including photo-editing, photo-sharing,
comparison shopping, and social networking applications.
“Recent trends, including the launch of Google’s Android MarketPlace
and Apple’s success with the App Store, have revived interest in the
camera phone platform among carriers, handset makers, and application
developers,” commented Parks Associates’ director of mobile
product research,
Harry Wang. “Consumers want to do more with their phones, which
makes this area fertile for service innovation.”
From the article, "Mobile Imaging Software Market to Surge in
Coming Years: Parks Associates"
February
22, 2009 — SunSentinel.com
Getting help for a problem PC can be confusing and frustrating. Tech
support is costly and impersonal. And often it doesn't fix the problem,
or it requires consumers to call multiple times before getting help.
"With the economy [in recession], consumers will choose first to look at
fixing their computer problem or optimizing the performance of their PC
before buying a new computer," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
technology consulting firm.
From the article, "A fix for tech support services"
February
20, 2009 — Smart Brief
More-energy-conscious Americans will help the home-energy-management
industry swell to more than 6 million "smart meters" by 2012, according
to a new report by researcher Parks Associates.
Bill Ablondi of Parks said that in addition to consumers
being more cognizant of the green benefits of smart meters, governments
are offering incentives to those who upgrade and utilities are looking
to improve the electrical grid.
From the article, "Smart meters" expected to reach 6 million homes
by 2012"
February
20, 2009 — FierceIPTV
Parks Associates has new research suggesting that at least 20
percent of broadband households in Western Europe have viewed a movie or
TV program online within the last six months. Despite the sizable
figure, the research firm also says that among countries surveyed,
including the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and France, more than 80
percent of broadband households still actually prefer going out to a
cinema or watching a DVD as video viewing methods versus watching a
video program online. Free video content has some allure, but still
apparently hasn't changed actual consumer preferences.
From the article, "Parks: Old-time viewing habits still reign" by
Dan O'Shea
February
19, 2009 — vnunet.com
Researcher firm Parks Associates said that a recent survey of
broadband users in Europe found that just one in five have watched a
film or television program online in the past six months.
The survey studied both the viewing habits and preferences of
broadband users in the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. The results
showed that while they are not watching films online, users
overwhelmingly preferred to watch films in the cinema or wait for a film
or programme to air on television.
Respondents in the UK cited television and cinema as the favored
methods of viewing, followed by DVD sales and DVD rentals. Users in
Spain overwhelmingly preferred cinema, while Germans showed a preference
for television broadcasts and DVD purchases. Parks Associates
research director
John Barrettsaid the findings could present new challenges to
companies and studios looking to invest in broadband video projects. "It
will be difficult for companies to sell video streams and downloads to
consumers in Europe when there is this undercurrent of reluctance," said
Barrett. "Even if all piracy issues are resolved, the realities of
consumer preferences could still undermine the service plans of content
providers, if they don’t understand their customers."
From the article, "Europe not yet warming to broadband video" by
Shaun Nichols
February
19, 2009 — ENN: Ireland's IT News Source
Meanwhile, research from Parks Associates has found that the vast
majority of European broadband users prefer watching videos away from
their computer. The paper, entitled 'The Impact of Online Video in
Europe', examines the impact of consumer preferences on future services
found that broadband has changed video viewing habits in Western Europe,
with over 20 percent of broadband-ready households watching a film or TV
program online in the past six months. Despite this figure however, the
researchers found considerable reluctance to embrace online
video-watching with over 80 percent of broadband-ready households
preferring to watch video the old-fashioned way on television, DVD, or
in the cinema. From the article, "Daily Digest 19 February:
Ryanair launches in-flight telecoms | It's official: women use phone
more often than men" by Emmet Cole
February
19, 2009 — Security Systems News
A January report from Parks Associates, an international market
research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer
technology products and services, finds security system monitoring
revenue is likely to be very stable despite current economic conditions,
and customers may even tolerate a rate increase.
The report, "Home Systems: Home Security Update," finds the number of
monitored security households intending to cancel their service is only
4-8 percent higher than normal due to the economic downturn, but still
quite stable. This is good news for the industry, but Parks also
warns that the resilience of this service category will attract new
competitors among telcos, cable companies, and others.
"Anybody who is already getting into the house has the potential to
do security as one more thing when they get there," Parks Associates
CEO
Tricia Parks. "There have been fits and starts at this before, and
it turns out its not so easy. And also other market opportunities were
bigger and more important and more critical to the telcos and the
cablecos, and they really receded."
Parks said, however, that with broadband slowing down and cable
approaching saturation, telcos and cable providers are beginning to look
elsewhere once again. "They're looking around, if not for this year,
then for years ahead, saying 'Where's the next incremental revenue come
from?' And in that context they're all looking at security."
Parks suggested end users will tolerate a slight increase in monthly
monitoring fees, especially if monitoring companies begin adding value
to their solutions, citing in particular the recent partnership between
ADT and iControl. "A slight rise in monthly fees, such as from $25 to
$26.95, will not cause current subscribers to abandon their services,"
Parks said. "We're not just saying, 'go raise your fees,' but just
saying, 'find out what you can do.' Or offer another kind of benefit to
accompany what they already have and one can probably get another fee
for that."
From the article, "Report suggests increased monitoring fees,
new services could 'buffer' flat revenues" by Daniel Gelinas
February
19, 2009 — Washington Post
Many stations that switched early said they did so for financial
reasons.
"Local and regional broadcasters have been losing ad revenue, and
it's cutting into their budgets. Trying to broadcast a digital and
analog signal simultaneously is very expensive for them," said
Jayant Dasari, a research analyst at Parks Associates, a
market research firm in Dallas. From the article, "Some
Markets Pull Plug on Analog TV" by Kim Hart
February
18, 2009 — ZDNet Healthcare
It’s from Parks Associates, best known for its work in
networking, and it shows personal disease management becoming a $460
million consumer market in four years, up from $100 million last year. From the
article, "Disease management becoming a consumer market" by
Dana Blankenhorn
February
18, 2009 — Western Digital Press Release
Consumers are amassing increasing amounts of digital media on their
computers, including irreplaceable photos, movies and documents. While
70 percent of users in a recent WD study of 1,500 U.S. consumers claimed
to be "backing up," most use sporadic, tedious processes such as copying
to CDs/DVDs or USB thumb drives. Having several computers multiplies the
work. My Book World Edition network drives are designed to automate and
simplify the backup chore for the 36 million networked homes in the U.S.
according to research firm Parks Associates. Just plug the My
Book World Edition drive into a network router, click a few buttons and
the My Book World Edition storage device backs up the files from all the
PCs and Macs on the network. Any changes to the files on these computers
are automatically and continuously backed up to the drive.
"For easier safekeeping of personal files and media collections
stored around the home, families need network storage solutions with
true plug-and-play installation, automatic backup capability and
familiar file organization," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "With
My Book(TM) World Edition, WD is delivering peace-of-mind for users who
want to easily back up all their computers, as well as bringing to the
table media centralization, streaming and remote access functions for
more advanced families." From the press release, "WD(R)
Provides an Easy Way to Back Up All the Computers in the Home"
February
18, 2009 — TechNewsWorld
Consumers can benefit too by taking advantage of pricing structures for
electrical power that change with overall demand, i.e., they schedule
their usage during off-peak times when electricity is less expensive.
They can set appliances to run when prices drop below a certain level or
program a thermostat to adjust based on constantly updated pricing
information. U.S. consumers are becoming more sensitive to energy costs;
therefore, the time may be right for residential energy management
systems to gain traction here as they already have in other countries.
As a result, Parks Associates ' Home Systems Group is
assessing the market opportunities that could come from upgrades to
electricity distribution systems. This area includes new prospects for
manufacturers of appliances, HVAC (heating, ventilating and air
conditioning) systems, controls, and consumer electronics; home
networking software developers; broadband Internet service providers;
and utilities. From the article, "Powering Up Smart Grid
Technology " by Bill Ablondi
February
12, 2009 — EE Times
Vodafone in Germany and Orange in France are also looking into
connecting cellular cards into digital photo frames, according to
Harry Wang, senior analyst at Parks Associates. Verizon and
AT&T are interested in an electronic device called a "home center" which
can display digital photos, while connected to a fixed-line phone, he
added. From the article, "Wireless carriers look to cash in on
digital photo frames" by Junko Yoshida
February
11, 2009 — Gamasutra
Given the level of growth and the relative figures to other forms of
entertainment, games have become increasingly attractive areas for
marketing communications by advertisers. Research firm Parks
Associates estimated advertising in the game industry to be $370
million in 2006, growing to $2 billion by 2012
From the article, "Emerging Issues in In-Game Advertising " by
Greg Boyd and Vejay Lalla
February
11, 2009 — MediaPost's Online Media Daily
In 2008, U.S. consumers spent $491 million on premium casual games and
services, according to Parks Associates. The research firm
estimates that revenue in 2013 will reach about $1 billion.
From the article, "Merscom Produces Games Based On Lifetime Shows" by
Laurie Sullivan
February
10, 2009 — eMarketer
More than 2.5 billion consumers will subscribe to 3G worldwide by 2013,
according to a Parks Associates report. Parks Associates
predicts more than 1 billion of those subscribers will be in Asia alone.
“Service providers have to offer personalized services that fit
individual needs, instead of uniform sets of services,” said
Jayant Dasari, Parks Associates research analyst, in a
company press release. “Consumers rely on their mobile phones for
communications and for entertainment and social networking.”
From the article, "Smartphones to Get Smarter as 3G Expands"
February
6, 2009 — TechNewsWorld
What EA and other game publishers do is push action/adventure and
shooter games to the consumer segments where retail spending is
strongest; that makes the launch sequence interesting, Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst at Parks Associates, told TechNewsWorld.
"So, our 'power gamer' segment, the kind that would be looking at the
'Battlefiled' game, is spending (US)$146 a month in software on average.
It's kind of like what the studios do with releasing movies through the
channels. They get 'X' percent at the theater and another big percentage
at DVD. The game developers work the same way -- target the core gamers
first on the console and then work through the other different
distribution paths," he explained.
From the article, "EA Plans Multi-Pronged 'Battlefield'
Blitz" by Walaika Haskins
February
6, 2009 — CE Pro
We have been pushing recurring revenue model for integrators for years.
A recent Parks Associates study found 75 percent of residential
security revenue comes from monitoring, not installation.
From the
article, "Find Pockets of Success in Down Market at EHX Spring" by
Jason Knott
February
3, 2009 — TechNewsWorld
A decade ago, companies were falling all over themselves to build
prototypical homes of the future -- smart homes that maximized the
potential of digital advancements. Where has the enthusiasm gone? The
European market in particular appears to be experiencing a renaissance
in service-provider activity in the digital home/smart home, writes
Parks Associates' Kurt Scherf.
From the article, "Is It Too Late for Homes to Get Smart?" by
Kurt Scherf
February
3, 2009 — NewBay Software Press Release
“Users digital content requirements are becoming increasingly
sophisticated, and there is an emerging need to not only manage and
share content, but also to access it across multiple screens,” said
Harry Wang, Director of Mobile Product Research at Dallas-based
Parks Associates. “This presents operators with the opportunity to
develop new revenue sources to supplement traditional voice revenues.
NewBay’s LifeCache PVA provides operators with the tools to monetize
converged user-content management services.”
From the press release, "New Version of NewBay’s Photo &
Video Album Drives ARPU For Operators"
February
2, 2009 — Mercury News
As computers have become more complex and more pervasive, the business
of supporting them has become more challenging and often more costly.
Tech research firm IDC estimates that the broad U.S. market for support
services, including the sale of extended warranties and subscription
packages, will grow from about $2 billion in 2007 to $3.6 billion in
2012. Ironically, one of the factors likely to drive that growth is the
economic downturn, analysts say.
"With the economy (in recession), consumers will choose first to look
at fixing their computer problem or optimizing the performance of their
PC before buying a new computer," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
technology consulting firm.
From the article, "Need PC repairs? Go to eBays of tech
support" by Troy Wolverton
January
30, 2009 — Mass High Tech
Kurt Scherf, a
vice president and principal analyst at Texas-based Parks Associates,
was among the reviewers that reported a poor user experience with the
original consumer product. However, he also said there is considerable
demand for the consumer product, citing a recent survey his firm
conducted in which 20 percent of people said they wanted to see their
online video content through their televisions.
From the article, "ZeeVee goes pro with PC-HDTV box" by
Efrain Viscarolasaga
January
29, 2009 — Actiontec Press Release
"Each DSL network has its own unique characteristics and settings making
it harder for small- to medium-sized providers to gain the advantage of
buying made-to-order devices in bulk, cutting down on the overall cost,"
said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President, Principal Analyst with Parks Associates. "The
Actiontec Provisioning Application allows the ISP to add their network
settings to the application and quickly download to each device cutting
off valuable time provisioning each unit at the customer's home or
business."
From the press release, "Actiontec Launches New Provisioning
Application Enabling ISPs to Quickly Provision and Brand Their Actiontec
DSL Modems"
January
29, 2009 — mocoNews.net
On a related note, Parks Associates predicts that there will be
more than 2.5 billion 3G subscribers globally by 2013, up from a bit
over 500 million now, with about 1 billion in Asia. They reckon this
will drive mobile/fixed line convergence.
From the article, "Mobile Subscriber Growth To Slow, Handset
Sales To Fall In 2009: Report" by James Quintana Pearce
January
28, 2009 — TMCnet
Parks Associates recently released a report titled “Fixed-Mobile
Convergence (News - Alert): Consumers and Business Models,” which
examines the current state of 3G deployments across the world. The
report calls for the number of 3G subscribers in the world to exceed 2.5
billion by the year 2013. Asia alone is expected to have more than 1
billion customers.
According to the report, the increase will lead to the development of
fixed-mobile convergence solutions. This will in turn facilitate the
creation of new service options which will enable subscribers to access
video, audio and community applications through their mobile devices.
From the article, "Report: 3G Subscribers to Exceed 2.5
Billion by 2013" by Calvin Azuri
January
25, 2009 — RedOrbit
A new generation of Web-connected televisions may play a key role for
the recording industry in reaching its ongoing goal of expanding digital
music into household living rooms.
However, none of these systems have
found widespread market adoption. Indeed, Market research firm Parks
Associates estimates there are only about a 500,000 digital media
adapters installed throughout the entire country.
"It's a niche category, and the really good products are priced at a
premium," Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst with Parks Associates, told Reuters. "You're
looking at a very specific market segment that will adopt these."
From the article, "Internet TVs Broaden Viewer’s
Entertainment Options"
January
24, 2009 — Reuters
Until now, most efforts to stream digital music into the living room
required expensive solutions like the Sonos multiroom wireless system or
media bridges like the Roku Soundbridge. Gaming consoles like
Microsoft's Xbox 360 have also provided a means to stream online music,
as have a series of Internet-enabled radio receivers, some of which have
Rhapsody or Napster built in.
Yet none of these systems has found a mass audience. Market research
firm Parks Associates estimates there are only about a
half-million digital media adapters installed nationwide.
"It's a niche category, and the really good products are priced at a
premium," Parks Associates vice president/principal analyst Kurt Scherf
said. "You're looking at a very specific market segment that will adopt
these."
From the article, "Web-connected TVs expanding entertainment
offerings" by Anthony Bruno
January
23, 2009 — CIO Today
The Vatican's use of YouTube is a prime example of how digital media
helps marketers reach out to target audiences in more efficient and
effective ways than traditional media, according to
Harry Wang, a social-media analyst at Parks Associates.
"The fact that the pope set up a channel on YouTube means they
believe they can get in touch with the people who are the hope for the
next generation. This will be the channel where the next generation will
get information from,"
Wang said. "From a marketing perspective, this is a must-win battle
to stay relevant and get to know their audience better."
From the article, "Vatican Launches YouTube Channel " by
Jennifer LeClaire
January
21, 2009 — SmartMoney
Tech support can also serve as a way to save cash, says Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst for Parks Associates, a market research and consulting
firm. "Consumers who might have bought a new computer and recycled the
old one are now more of the mindset to keep the current model
operational," he says.From the article, "5 Ways to Get Gadget
Help Cheap" by Kelli B. Grant
January
21, 2009 — ZDnet Asia
According to a recent Parks Associates study, the mobile
broadband market is expected to weather the economic downturn because it
is "transitioning into a mainstream service".
The study projects the number of U.S. mobile broadband users to more
than double between 2008 and 2013.The research firm expects mobile
broadband reliance to be increased by sales of smartphones throughout
the period.
From the article, "Wi-Fi won't replace mobile broadband" by
Victoria Ho
January
20, 2009 — Bazaarvoice Press Release
US mobile adoption has surpassed 75% and more than 83% of cell phone
users take their phones with them wherever they ago. In addition,
adoption of smart phones and iPhones is accelerating at a breakneck pace
and more than 140 million U.S. consumers will be paying for mobile
broadband services in 2013 – up from 46 million in 2008. (Parks
Associates, 2009).
From the press release, "Bazaarvoice Introduces MobileVoice,
Bringing Product Reviews to the Mobile Device and Into the Retail Store"
January
18, 2009 — ZDF Television Media
Parks Associates Digital Media Analyst,
Anton Denissov, was featured at CES by ZDF, a German
television station.
From media coverage, "CES 2009"
January
16, 2009 — BluePhone Press Release
BluePhone, the Personal Tech Support hotline that helps consumers get
maximum value out of their tech gear by eliminating the hassles, fears
and runarounds when resolving problems with computers, peripherals and
digital devices, was ranked as a "Notable Remote Support Vendor" in the
December 2008 paper from Parks Associates titled, "Remote PC
Support Services: Enhancing Capabilities." The paper was authored by Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
Remote PC support services are a fast-emerging industry, estimated by
Parks Associates in the report as a "$650 million business in the
U.S. at present." The report went on to say that "...In the last few
years, a number of third-party vendors, retailers, and broadband service
providers have entered this space, employing agents and utilizing
software clients and other remote tools to initiate remote support
sessions. As opposed to blind telephone support, an agent is able --
upon receiving permission from the customer -- to take over control of a
home computer and run diagnostic, maintenance, and break/fix services."
This because "consumers are recognizing that the complexity of their
home IT problems and their lack of time to fully understand and solve
these problems on their own means that they will be turning more home
technology services over to professionals."
"The market for digital home technology support is one of the most
dynamically growing segments," says Scherf.
"As consumers grapple with ever-more complex digital home technology
headaches, 'DIY' is quickly becoming 'do-if-for-me,' which opens up
significant opportunity for many players."
From the press Release, "BluePhone Personal Tech Experts
Ranked as "Notable Remote Support Vendor" in Parks Associates Paper"
January
14, 2009 — TelecomTV
According to one researcher, phone users are willing to pay for
enhancements such as photo-editing capabilities, comparison shopping,
and social networking services. Parks Associates claims that fact
means that US consumers alone will spend more than $500 million per year
by 2013 on imaging applications on their mobile phones.
From the article, "'Snapping the tag': will cameras be
driving mobile commerce by 2013?" by Ian Scales
January
14, 2009 — SmartBrief
The growing increase in the quality of cameraphones will likely result
in an explosion of imaging applications for wireless devices, according
to a new report from Parks Associates, a research and consulting
firm. The study predicted revenue from the new opportunities should
reach $500 million by 2013.
From the article, "Boom in photo apps seen as phones add
pixels"
January
13, 2009 — MacNewsWorld
Apple has its retail stores, of course, and the company did not respond
to inquiries from MacNewsWorld at press time. Still, might Apple attend
CES?
It's unlikely that Apple would attend CES, agreed Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates . "I think
Apple has gotten so used to building an aura of exclusivity, I just
don't see them breaking that at this point,"
Scherf
told MacNewsWorld.
"And their model is so different -- it's so much based on direct
distribution online and through their Apple retail stores," he added.
From the article, "CES 2010 to Feature Apple Orchard - With
or Without Apple" by Chris Maxcer
January
13, 2009 — InformationWeek
The gradual increase in megapixel capacity for cell phone cameras is
expected to spur the growth of imaging applications for mobile phones,
according to a report issued Tuesday by Parks Associates. Revenue
from imaging apps on mobile phones should exceed $500 million in 2013,
the market research firm said.
Predicting that the photo-sharing services businesses will expand to
personalized content management and social networking applications,
Parks Associates said consumers will be willing to pay for the new
applications as they improve. "Recent trends, including the launch of
Google's Android MarketPlace and Apple's success with the App Store,
have revived interest in the camera phone platform among carriers,
handset makers, and application developers," said Parks Associates'
Harry Wang in a statement. Wang, who is director of the firm's
Health and Mobile Product Research unit, added: "Handset makers and
mobile carriers will need to embrace a more consumer-centric business
model in application development and marketing. Consumers want to do
more with their phones, which makes this area fertile for service
innovation."
Wang said current mobile printing services, now dominant among
mobile imaging applications, will gradually give way to new revenue
models including application a la carte purchasing and software as a
service. Noting the growth in cell phones with cameras, Wang predicted
that nearly 70% of handsets sold in the United States will include a
camera with a capacity of at least two megapixels. Eight megapixel
camera phones are also coming onto the U.S. market. Consumers,
Wang added, will be willing to pay extra for photo-editing features
as well as for social networking services.
From the article, "Cell Phone Pixel Progress Hints At Imaging
App Boom" by W. David Gardner
January
11, 2009 — Didiom Press Release
"As consumers seek to access media on their own terms, placeshifting is
becoming the norm," said
Anton Denissov, Digital Media Analyst at Parks Associates,
a market research firm specializing in emerging consumer technology
products and services. "With growing consumer demand and the prevalence
of mobile broadband networks, now is the right time to introduce mobile
placeshifting solutions. By acting now, while the market is still
shaping, providers will have access to the broadest range of partners,
and opportunity to refine their offerings to give consumers an optimal
experience."
From the press release, "Didiom Now Available for VGA-based
Windows Mobile Phones and the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Series"
January
09, 2009 — TWICE
Wireless has come of age as a reliable way to replace HDMI video cables
within a room and transmit HD video throughout the house, advocates of
competing solutions said during a Parks Associates seminar here.
Panelists, however, were split over whether consumers are more
interested in wireless for replacing HDMI cables within a room or for
distributing HD video throughout the house. “We surveyed consumers
worldwide, and 75 percent said in-room connectivity is their priority,”
said John Marshall, chairman of WirelessHD, a consortium of CE companies
supporting the technology. Lior Weiss, marketing VP of fabless
semiconductor startup Celeno, disagreed. He claimed consumers are more
interested in such applications as using a multi-room DVR to transmit
different programs to different TVs throughout the house.
From the article, "CES 2009: Wireless In-Room, In-Home HD Video
Readied" by Joseph Palenchar
January
08, 2009 — Bunchball Press Release
"The trend toward building relationships with consumers by creating
compelling activities on a site that enlist people's feedback and
loyalty is one that will continue to turn traditional marketing on its
head and create real opportunities for brands who are trying to
differentiate and be cost-effective in a tough financial climate," said Kurt Scherf
of Parks Associates. "Bunchball is well-positioned to fill this
need for brands of all types and sizes and has shown an impressive track
record thus far."
From the press release, "Bunchball Announces Significant Additions
to Client List"
January
8, 2009 — Biz Report
The latest forecast from Parks Associates suggests that US mobile
broadband subscribers will more than triple by 2013; growth from 46
million in 2008 to more than 140 million subscribers in 2013. In the
same time period researchers suggest that the sale of Smartphones will
increase to more than 60 million.
Anton Denissov, research analyst with Parks Associates
says the anytime connectivity is something consumers will grow to depend
on. Even more encouraging for phone providers and mobile marketers is
that despite the recessionist economy in the US in 2008 the sale of
smartphones did not slow as the sale of other luxury products did. Both
Research in Motion (Blackberry) and Apple (iPhone 3G) reported record or
strong sales in Q3 2008.
From the article, "Forecast: Mobile broadband to triple by 2013"
by Kristina Knight
January
8, 2009 — TV Week
An estimated 140 million people in the U.S. will be paying for mobile
broadband service in 2013, MediaPost says, citing a new study from Parks
Associates. Only some 46 million people had mobile broadband in 2008,
the site notes. According to Parks Associates, sales of smartphones in
the next five years may reach 60 million units, more than triple the
amount now as the devices become more mainstream, MediaPost says.
From the blog posting, "Mobile Broadband to Reach 140 Mil " by
Sergio Ibarra
January
7, 2009 — NETGEAR Press Release
"NETGEAR's product introductions take advantage of two major trends that
we are seeing with consumers -- digital media and connectivity," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst of Parks Associates, which
specializes in research and analysis for digital living technologies.
"First, as digital media collections grow, we anticipate that the
average broadband household will require a significant amount of
additional storage and media centralization capabilities. Second, our
Digital Media Evolution study finds high demand for connected CE
experiences that can deliver premium Web content to the living room."
From the press release, "NETGEAR Unveils Two New
Internet-Connected Set-Top Products to Enrich TV Entertainment for
Internet Families and Serious Media Enthusiasts"
January
7, 2009 — New York Times Blog
Apple’s announcement on Tuesday that it would drop anticopying measures
from all of the music in its iTunes store is likely to shake up the
digital music business in more ways than one.
Harry Wang, director of mobile product research at the consulting
company Parks Associates, said Apple’s announcement could actually bode
well for boutique music sellers. They may stand a better shot at
striking deals with major labels that are eager to explore new outlets
for revenue.
The record labels “have realized they can make money elsewhere, with
more sales approaches like selling music through the mobile space, game
development and sponsoring live events,” Mr.
Wang said.
Meanwhile, he said, the announcement is “a big win for consumers to
have more flexibility to have more options in terms of digital
downloads.”
From the technology blog posting, "Will iTunes Changes Hurt
Competing Music Sellers?" by Jenna Wortham
January
7, 2009 — Seagate Press Release
However, according to a recent survey by Parks Associates, more
than a quarter of consumers are interested in accessing personal content
-- such as photos and music -- directly on the TV, while nearly a third
of respondents expressed interest in being able to view movies and other
PC-hosted video through the TV. Historically the only way to transfer
digital files from the computer to the home entertainment center was
through complicated home networking solutions or the time-consuming task
of burning multiple DVDs or CDs. Now the Seagate FreeAgent Theatre media
player provides a way for people to easily store and move their media
library between their PC and home entertainment system so they can share
their favorite photos, movies and videos with family and friends in a
familiar and comfortable setting.
From the press release, "Seagate Brings Enjoyment of Digital
Content to the Living Room With Seagate(R) FreeAgent(R) Theater(TM) HD
Media Player"
January
7, 2009 — New York Times
In moves that will help shape the online future of the music business,
Apple said Tuesday that it would remove anticopying restrictions on all
of the songs in its popular iTunes Store and allow record companies to
set a range of prices for them.
Harry Wang, director of mobile product research at the consulting
company Parks Associates, said, “They aren’t going to get a huge
amount of money from this new arrangement, but in an ailing music
industry, anything that can provide more money will be better than the
status quo.”
From the article, "Want to Copy iTunes Music? Go Ahead, Apple
Says" by Brad Stone
January
6, 2009 — MediaPost's Online Media Daily
More than 140 million U.S. consumers will be
paying for mobile broadband services in 2013--up from 46 million in
2008, according to a new study by Parks Associates.
"Consumers will grow more comfortable with
mobile broadband, and the service will become part of their daily lives,
as they will be able to surf the Web, play games, share pictures, and
connect via social networks from anywhere," said
Anton Denissov, a research analyst at Parks Associates.
He noted that the smartphone sales have
remained strong this year despite the recession, underscoring their
allure as both status symbols and utilities. "We haven't seen the
slowdown," said
Denissov. "The smartphone market is either a lagging indicator or is
more recession-resistant."
But Denissov acknowledged that demand could
diminish this year as the downturn lingers. "It's safe to say there will
be an impact," he said. Under what Parks Associates terms a
"realistic" scenario, smartphone sales will grow by only 1 million in
2009 to 19 million. Most of the growth will come in the out years.
From the article, "U.S. Mobile Broadband Users To Surpass 140
Million By 2013" by Mark Walsh
January
5, 2009 — Wall Street Journal
After more than a decade of disappointment, the goal of marrying
television and the Internet seems finally to be picking up steam. A key
factor in the push are new TV sets that have networking connections
built directly into them, requiring no additional set-top boxes for
getting online. Meanwhile, many consumers are finding more attractive
entertainment and information choices on the Internet -- and have
already set up data networks for their PCs and laptops that can also
help move that content to their TV sets.
Over the past year, Panasonic Corp., Sharp Corp. and Samsung have
come out with HD TVs that can access services such as Google Inc.'s
YouTube and Picasa photo albums, along with online weather forecasts and
stock tickers. Kurt Scherf,
an analyst with Parks Associates, estimates the number of
Web-enabled TV sets will grow to 14% of the projected 26 million-28
million TV sets to be sold in the U.S. in 2012 from 1% last year.
From the article, "Internet-Ready TVs Usher Web Into Living Room"
by NICK WINGFIELD and DON CLARK
January
2, 2009 — E-commerce Times
New business models will help carriers to manage network congestion,
monetize traffic more effectively and drive market growth. These models
will also generate new revenue streams for carriers by encouraging
consumers to bring secondary devices onto the network, such as connected
cameras and mobile internet devices. Parks Associates believes
that the cornerstones of these new models must be some or all of the
following characteristics: 1). Be service-centric instead of
connectivity-centric; and 2). Avoid blanket punitive pricing.
From the article, "What's Lighting the Fire Under Mobile
Broadband?" by Anton Denissov
January
2, 2009 — Dealerscope
The ability to network is going to be a huge factor in the purchases of
the next generation of consumer electronics purchases. That's according
to a study released earlier this week by Parks Associates.
According to the study, called Digital Media Evolution, large numbers
of consumers have interest in the networking capabilities of digital
cameras, photo frames, and mobile phones.
"We're entering a new stage in home networking, where
interoperability between fixed and portable devices defines new user
experiences," Parks' principal analyst, Kurt Scherf,
said as part of the announcement. "This trend will guide the development
of powerful but energy-efficient networking solutions and the design of
middleware and user interfaces that can be implemented on multiple
devices running a variety of processors and core software."
From the article, "Survey: Networking Interest to Drive CE
Purchases" by Stephen Silver
January
2, 2009 — Mobile Marketer
That is a key finding from “Digital Media Evolution,” a new Parks
Associates survey. The study found that consumers see real value in
the ability to transfer a mobile call to a fixed-line phone or to move
music and photos among PCs and portable multimedia players.
“I think that that iPhone and other multimedia-capable mobile phones
have a significant opportunity to persuade consumers to drop their
current phone for one with more rich multimedia capabilities” said Kurt Scherf,
vice president, principal analyst at Parks Associates, Dallas,
TX.
Also, 48 percent of respondents said that they would buy fewer
consumer electronics as holiday gifts, but there is a wide disparity
between ages of respondents. “I don’t know if younger consumers are
whistling past the graveyard, but only 31 percent of 18-24-year-olds
said that they would buy fewer consumer electronics products,” Mr.
Scherf said.
From the article, "Consumer interest in mobile devices to
drive next technology wave" by Giselle Abramovich
December
30, 2008 — Network World
A new study from research firm Parks Associates says interest in
home networking technologies will move away from connecting fixed
devices (PCs, printers, etc.), and toward mobile and portable devices
that can connect to an existing network. The study found that nearly 50%
of U.S. broadband households want a digital camera with networking
functions, and almost 40% would be interested in a networked digital
photo frame.
From the article, "Parks: Home networking gets mobile in '09" by
Keith Shaw
December
30, 2008 — InformationWeek
A Parks Associates survey suggests 2009 will center largely on
connecting digital cameras, photo frames, and mobile phones.
Consumer electronics purchases will get a new push in the coming
months from increased consumer demand for networking among imaging and
mobile devices, according to a survey announced Tuesday by Parks
Associates.
The new demand, which Parks described as the "next wave of
consumer electronics purchasing," will center largely on the home use of
digital cameras, photo frames, and mobile phones, the market research
firm said, adding that the complete results of the study will be
released at the Connection Summit at next month's CES event.
Parks said its survey of U.S. consumers found that nearly 50%
of U.S. households with broadband want a digital camera with networking
capabilities and nearly 40% would like a networked digital photo frame.
"We're entering a new stage in home networking where interoperability
between fixed and portable devices defines new user experiences," Kurt Scherf,
VP and principal Parks analyst, said in a statement. "This trend
will guide the development of powerful but energy-efficient networking
solutions and the design of middleware and user interfaces that can be
implemented on multiple devices running a variety of processors and core
software."
The Parks study found that consumers see new value in products
and services that enable them to transfer mobile calls to fixed line
phones and to move music and photos among PCs and portable multimedia
players. The market research firm noted that the new surge of interest
in networking among portable devices is being driven by a new generation
of applications that enable the transfer of media and communications
offerings among the devices.
From the article, "Home Networking: Next Big Thing For Consumer
Devices" by David Gardner
December
29, 2008 — Mercury News
The stereotypical gamer has been a twentysomething male. And into guy
things like sports or blowing stuff up.This year it became clear that
the stereotype just doesn't square with reality. Increasingly girls —
and women — are gaming.
Nintendo's Wii became the top-selling console in the United States
this year in large part by appealing to women. More than half of active
Wii users are female, according to Parks Associates.
From the article, "The year's top tech trends" by Troy Wolverton
December
27, 2008 — Nitely.net Tech News
So how successful will the iPhone be after a month, a year, 3 years?
Many doubt that it will live up to the hype. One thing is certain: the
price tag is a bit hefty! Depending on the size of memory storage,
consumers will end up spending either $499 (for 4GB) or $599 (for 8GB).
The difference in memory comes into play when determining how many media
files will be stored. Research papers by a company called Parks
Associates have indicated that the average consumer is willing to
spend about $99 on a basic cell phone and $199 on a phone with advanced
features (Internet browsing, photo capabilities). Based on these
figures, it is hard to determine if the iPhone will break sales records,
as projected. Will the highly-anticipated media powerhouse by Apple live
up to its expectations? Only time will tell.
From the article, "Does Apple’s iPhone Meet Expectations?" by
Rachel McCarthy
December
26, 2008 — Los Angeles Times
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas -- known in years
past for its outsized booths, wall-to-wall crowds and lobster dinners --
is going to be a lot tamer next month.
Other companies will have similarly somber approaches at CES, said Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst at Parks Associates, a technology consulting
firm in Dallas.
"CES will be much more strategic for companies,"
Scherf
said. "Employees are being sent with very specific goals. The idea of
attending just to see a bunch of cool stuff is not going to play very
well in this economy."
From the article, "A less electrifying electronics expo" by
Alex Pham
December
19 - 25, 2008 — Dallas Business Journal
Harry Wang, director of health and mobile product research at
Dallas-based Parks Associates, was among the few to forecast cell
phone sales growth.
Wang expects sales in the United States to hit between 134 and 136
million units next year, up from between 130 million and 132 million in
’08. That, he says, will be driven by the upgrade cycle.
Some 85% of consumers upgrade their phones after the two-year
contract expires, he says. “That’s where the demand will be coming
from.”
Indeed, in an October study by market research firm Parks,
some 15% of consumers said they planned to buy a mobile phone during the
holiday season. That put mobile phones among the top four of various
types of electronics, such as high-definition televisions, laptop
computers and game consoles.
From the article, "Cell phone sales may dial downward in ’09" by
Jeff Bounds
December
24, 2008 — New Business Hunter
Consumers plan to spend more time at home with the various forms of
entertainment they’ve invested in over the past few years. Everything
from video game systems to computers to wide screen TVs has digital
parts and some items have network capability. All of this new equipment
means vendors may find opportunity in marketing themselves as repair and
maintenance experts.
Parks Associates, through its recent Digital Media Evolution
survey, predicts that service providers such as broadband companies
could turn this consumer demand for expertise into service revenue. This
trend has already been noticed by industry heavyweight Best Buy which
has been emphasizing its Geek Squad division in 2008.
From the article, "Growth Market Expected for At-Home
Entertainment Providers"
December
22, 2008 — EE Times
Thanks to growing momentum behind a standard covering all wired
home networks, an IEEE group has taken a significant step toward
defining a standard for competing powerline technologies. The IEEE's
P1901 working group approved last week (Dec. 19) at a meeting in Kyoto a
set of baseline technologies powerline nets, breaking a two-year
deadlock.
Wi-Fi dominates today used in an estimated 53 percent of networked
homes in the U.S. according to Parks Associates (Dallas). By
contrast, only about 19 percent use some form of wired networking other
than Category 5 Ethernet cable. Powerline represents a little less than
half that group.
From the article, "Powerline group breaks two-year deadlock:
IEEE P1901 embraces ITU's G.hn as one part of spec" by Rick Merritt
December
19, 2008 — BETA NEWS
Since Blu-ray became the unofficial successor to DVD, a number
of analysts predicted that sales of the high definition media would
eventually come to offset any declines in DVD sales. Parks Associates
analysts went so far as to predict that Blu-ray player sales would
actually surpass most other electronics items during the next four years
as they gain traction in the developing world. Analyst Kurt Scherf
predicted that unit sales would climb to around 40 million by 2012.
From the article, "CES Countdown #12: Has streaming media
already rendered discs obsolete?" by Tim Conneally
December
19, 2008 — engadgetHD
We've already waded through a number of research reports that
found individuals more likely to stay at home and get their
entertainment during rough economic times, but an insightful piece from
Parks Associates takes a more deliberate approach to analyzing
what's really going on. When looking at just how many people are viewing
video-on-demand content now versus two years ago (it's way up, by the
way), it's easy to attribute that -- along with the downturn at the box
office -- to a flagging economy. However, the report also notes that HD
adoption in general has boomed over the past two years, giving citizens
access to more high-quality at-home entertainment than ever before. As Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst at Parks, so satisfactorily put it: "As we're
seeing high-definition TV penetration reach 50% of households and home
theater penetration well over 20%, we're seeing consumers want to enjoy
those investments as much as possible." Nice thinking outside of the box
there, Kurt.
From the article, "Economy, HD adoption to blame for higher
stay-at-home entertainment numbers" by Darren Murph
December
18, 2008 — Reuters
The economic crisis and the threat of another labor strike are
creating a "perfect storm" for Hollywood as major studios to brace for
further layoffs early next year, according to studio executives and
analysts.
"Indicators for Hollywood don't look good right now, based on the
economy and the potential actor's strike. Layoffs around the studios
would not surprise me," said Kurt Scherf,
an analyst with consulting firm Parks Associates.
From the article, "Hollywood gears up for more tough times in
2009" by Sue Zeidler
December
17, 2008 — TechNewsWorld
Regulators in Europe and Washington continue to urge Internet
companies to limit the length of time during which they keep
identifiable user data. Yahoo's decision may not stretch to the rest of
the industry, said
John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates.
"I don't think most consumers care about this stuff. There is a core
group, a very small percentage of the market that understands what all
that is and cares about it. That group is an important constituency, and
for them it is probably something of note. But for the majority of the
market, I don't think this is something they will go, 'Oh, now I feel
more comfortable using Yahoo because of some data retention policy
they've never heard of before,'" he told TechNewsWorld.
Yahoo, he continued, is probably just trying to keep up with and set
best practice policies in the industry. However, without greater demand
from a large number of users,
Barrett said he does not think the 90-day policy will be adopted by
the industry as a whole.
From the article, "Yahoo Pledges to Forget You Sooner" by Walaika
Haskins
December
15, 2008 — Mercury News
Cable and satellite providers have been particularly aggressive
in rolling out HD programming in recent months, noted Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
consulting firm. Dish Network, for instance, launched its TurboHD
service packages, which offer subscribers an all-high-definition lineup
of up to 122 channels.
The idea that an HDTV buyer may have been disappointed with the HD
programming choices "may have been true a year ago," said
Scherf. But given
what the pay TV networks have done recently, "that buyer's remorse "...
is fading quickly," he said.
From the article, "HDTV: Content is playing catch-up" by Troy
Wolverton
December
13, 2008 — ZDNet
The upcoming CES spectacular next month in Vegas will present a
showcase for new products championing one standard or another. In fact,
market research firm Parks Associates is planning a panel where
four proponents of those methods&—WirelessHD, WHDI, wireless HDMI, and
802.11n#151;will duke it out. Of course, the marketplace is where the
real fight will take place, and it’s still too early to declare a
winner, since virtually no wireless HD products are available in the
U.S.
From the article, "Wireless HD standards battle for supremacy" by
Sean Portnoy
December
12, 2008 — Light Readings's CABLE DIGITAL NEWS
"A single, unified technology for multimedia networks over power
lines, coaxial cable, and phone lines has the potential to enable
simple, easy-to-use networking devices in the home," said Kurt Scherf,
analyst with market analyst firm Parks Associates. "We believe
ITU’s work is an important step towards eliminating fragmentation in the
industry and in achieving the vision of a networked home."
From the article, "ITU Stamps G.hn Home Net Standard"
December
12, 2008 — ProVision Communication Technologies Ltd Press Release
ProVision’s CEO, David Sykes commented that the inclusion in
Parks Associates’ signature CES panel was testament to the strength
of ProVision’s wireless expertise. He also stated that getting wireless
HDTV right is more than just choosing a standard and connecting products
together, “ProVision has expertise across all aspects of wireless video
and it is this that will ensure success in the market. With the right
standards adopted wireless HDTV products will rapidly become commonplace
in people’s homes.”
From the press release, "How to Deliver Household Wide
Wireless HDTV: ProVision Joins Parks Associates’ Signature CES Debate"
December
11, 2008 — Wired Blog Network
"In general, the advertising agencies have much better knowledge
and expertise in other types of media," says
Michael Cai, Director of Digital Media and Gaming at Parks
Associates. "It's a nascent industry, and all the players are still
trying to partner with each other to figure out their collaboration
strategy."From the blog posting, "In-Game Advertising Starts
To Drift"
by Meghan Keane
December
11, 2008 — paidContent.org
Still, some analysts say Sony will be the victor in the long
run, particularly when it comes to the virtual marketplace.
Michael Cai, Parks Associates’ director of digital media and
gaming told the FT that Sony would “beat Microsoft in virtual item
sales.” Cai is forecasting the virtual goods market on the Xbox 360 and
PS3 to reach $500 million by 2013, and that Sony will grab 80 percent of
it.
From the article, "Sony (Finally) Lets Us Play In Home"
by Tameka Kee
December
11, 2008 — Financial Times
“I actually think there may be cannibalisation,” says
Michael Cai, a virtual worlds analyst at Parks Associates. “A
lot of online console gamers are involved in PC-based virtual worlds as
well, so while the industry is going to grow overall there might be a
portion that switch off from the PC-based ones and focus more on the
consoles.”From the article, "Sony aims for a new virtual
world order"
by Chris Nuttall
December
11, 2008 — Forbes.com
Arcades are dead, and with them dies the chance for most players
to meet up in the real world. Sony has a solution: On Thursday it will
begin offering up its PlayStation 3 as a virtual surrogate. Instead of
clamoring around the newest cabinet, players can virtually congregate in
spaces dedicated to the likes of PS3 games "Uncharted" and "Warhawk." It
is a place to make new friends. It's a place Sony calls Home.
Will Home work? As with every virtual world and social network, it
has to offer compelling, regularly updated content, says Parks
Associates analyst
Michael Cai. And it has to add value to the PlayStation 3
experience.
From the article, "Sony Brings Gamers 'Home'"
by Mary Jane Irwin
December
11, 2008 — Electronic House
Everyone is cutting back these days. According to a recent
survey by Parks Associates, about 66 percent of American
consumers have tweaked spending habits to adjust to the current economic
climate.
“For household services such as Internet and pay TV, recessionary
concerns have less impact,” said Kurt Scherf,
VP and principal analyst for Parks Associates. “Consumers are more
likely to cut back on outside entertainment expenses before trimming
household services such as home telephone, pay TV, and Internet.”
People may be staying at home more, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t
in the need of a little help. Parks says this might be the
perfect opportunity for at-home services that offer customer support,
self-diagnostic, and troubleshooting solutions.
The report, titled “Digital Media Evolution,” also says that 50
percent of those surveyed said they would be spending less on consumer
electronics because of economic conditions.
From the article, "Economy May Build At-Home Entertainment
Services" by Rachel Cericola
December
9, 2008 — engadgetHD
"The promise of robust wireless solutions aimed at delivering
high-quality video streams will only be made real by the adoption by
consumer electronics companies, so it is very encouraging to finally see
a wireless HDTV technology delivering on its promise," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates. "The
100K chipset milestone represents a turning point for the industry and a
major achievement for AMIMON as it continues to drive WHDI as the
standard for wireless HDTV."
From the article, "AMIMON ships 100,000th WHDI wireless
chipset" by Darren Murph
December
8, 2008 — Technologizer
A survey of online gamers from 2006 by Parks Associates
found that the “power gamers” that account for 30 percent of retail
revenue are just 11 percent of the online gaming population. The
majority are “social, liesure and dormant” gamers.
From the article, "Survey Says Gaming Isn’t Just For the
Nerdy. Or Is It?" by Jared Newman
December
8, 2008 — BETA NEWS
At the Future of Television Conference in New York City last
month, Kurt Scherf,
VP and principal analyst, Parks Associates, led a panel that
focused largely on DLNA home networking. Speaking with BetaNews during
the conference, Scherf contended that the spec has been gaining
considerable traction with vendors, particularly over the past year.
From the article, "CES to feature DLNA media streaming on CE
devices" by Jacqueline Emigh
December
8, 2008 — HiddenWires
"With today's ever-advancing technology, the production of
innovative, fast, reliable, and easy-to-use networking solutions is key
to providing consumers with the ability to connect to a wide-range of
Ethernet-enabled applications, from personal computers to digital media
adapters and gaming consoles," said
Michael Cai, director of digital media and gaming with Parks
Associates, which specializes in research and analysis for digital
living technologies. "High-speed Powerline devices are able to support
this growing bandwidth demand while also transmitting high-quality
broadband Internet to the wireless problem areas of the home."
From the article, "NETGEAR Ships Powerline Adapters for HD
and Multimedia Streaming"
December
5, 2008 — Slash Gear
A mobile advertising platform is claiming to be able to offer Flash
adverts on the iPhone, although the method by which they do so is
unknown. Greystripe offer advertisers standard IAB-format flash adverts
and “tailgate” games, in which promoted content is added into
downloadable content."Mobile has long been in need of a scalable
advertising model and Greystripe's new ad formats resolve that issue on
the iPhone," said
Michael Cai, Director of Digital Media and Gaming at Parks
Associates. "Using the iPhone's revolutionary platform, Greystripe
has solved the serving, reporting, third-party tracking and, best of
all, ad creation problems that have plagued the mobile advertising
industry since inception."
From the article, "Mobile advertiser claims to offer Flash ads for
iPhone" by Chris Davies
December
4, 2008 — Greystripe Press Release
Actions for all of Greystripe’s ad formats include branding, click to
YouTube, iTunes, maps, App Store, data, call, audio, survey and canvas.
"Mobile has long been in need of a scalable advertising model and
Greystripe's new ad formats resolve that issue on the iPhone," said
Michael Cai, Director of Digital Media and Gaming at Parks
Associates. "Using the iPhone's revolutionary platform, Greystripe
has solved the serving, reporting, third-party tracking and, best of
all, ad creation problems that have plagued the mobile advertising
industry since inception."
From the press release, "Flash Finally Launches on the iPhone via
Advertising Units by Greystripe"
December
3, 2008 — MoneyControl.com
Popularity of home networks is growing worldwide, with penetration as
high as 50 percent in some countries, according to a recent Parks
Associates study. Families with growing digital media collections on
multiple computers find it increasingly difficult to organize and share
their music, movies and photos. Home users can easily connect the WD
ShareSpace system to their home network to centralize their media
collections and access them from anywhere in their home. The included
iTunes® server capability allows users to play their music on any Mac®
or PC using iTunes software.
From the article, "WD unveils affordable network storage for
offices & homes"
December
2, 2008 — ipTVnews
“If Americans are wedded to their TVs, Europeans are just dating,” said
John Barrett, Director of Research at Parks Associates. He
adds out that while UK adoption rates are strong by European standards,
they still fall behind the US, where over 40% of broadband households
now own a DVR. “Europeans have traditionally been less enthusiastic
about in-home entertainment than Americans. Pay TV, DVRs, and VoD have
been harder sells as a result. These findings show how, at least in the
case of the United Kingdom, we’re seeing some traction.”
From the article, "Brits go doolally over DVRs"
December
2, 2008 — Greystripe Press Release
"Mobile has long been in need of a scalable advertising model and
Greystripe's new ad formats resolve that issue on the iPhone," said
Michael Cai, Director of Digital Media and Gaming at Parks Associates.
"Using the iPhone's revolutionary platform, Greystripe has solved the
serving, reporting, third-party tracking and, best of all, ad creation
problems that have plagued the mobile advertising industry since
inception."
From the press release, "Flash Finally Launches on the iPhone
via Advertising Units by Greystripe"
December
2, 2008 — Top Tech News
"Microsoft has a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade console, which is the cheapest of
all three consoles. The entry-level Xbox is $50 cheaper than the
[Nintendo] Wii and $200 cheaper than the [Sony] PS3," said
Michael Cai, a video-game analyst at Parks Associates. "So if
the majority of the units Microsoft sold were from that price point,
then obviously it's not surprising. In this economy people want in-home
entertainment -- but they also want cheaper entertainment."
Traditionally,
Cai said, video-game consoles reach mass adoption when the price
drops below $200. Microsoft is the first to achieve that goal, in part,
because the Xbox 360 was the first console released in the current
generation.
"In this economy you do have a lot more bargain hunters and the price
tag for the PS3 is likely to scare away some of the potential buyers in
this environment than in a normal economic environment,"
Cai said.
"There's no question that PS3 will come in last," he added. "I also
would anticipate the Wii still outselling the Xbox 360 for the holiday
season because the Wii was constrained by supply until recently.
Nintendo has pumped up their production capacity and you can see a Wii
almost everywhere. With that, the Wii is selling well."
From the article, "Microsoft's Xbox 360 Outsells Sony's PS3
on Black Friday" by Jennifer LeClaire
December
2, 2008 — CRM Buyer
Cable companies and customer satisfaction: The two terms are often
considered antithetical. Through the years, these corporations have
earned a reputation of being slow to respond to customer inquiries,
inflexible and callous. Now as new competitors tread on their cash cow
video services, will these services providers change, or will their
rigidity cause them to lose business?
The notion of cable companies as poor service providers has been
borne out in numerous consumer satisfaction surveys. Recently, Parks
Associates found that that subscribers to satellite television and
IPTV (Internet protocol television) services are significantly more
likely to be satisfied with their decisions than both basic and digital
cable subscribers.
Pricing is another area where cable companies are often viewed as
inferior to their competitors. "Cable companies have focused on
delivering product bundles, but customers view their services as much
more expensive than those from competitors," Kurt Scherf,
vice president at Parks Associates, told CRM Buyer.
That "clean slate" nature also applies to customer perceptions.
"Satellite service and IPTV providers are now in a honeymoon period with
customers, and it will be interesting to see if their high marks in
customer service remain as the market mature," said Parks Associates'
Scherf. Consumers tend to remember negative experiences more than
positive ones, and many have had only a limited number of interactions
-- and therefore a limited number of possible bad experiences -- with
the new entrants.
From the article, "Cable's Customer Satisfaction Tangle" by
Paul Korzeniowski
December
2, 2008 — ABC Channel 2 News
Harry Wang, director of research at Parks Associates in
Dallas, said that by the time the economic reality sank in during the
late summer, it was too late for panel makers to shut down production. A
large inventory should translate into lower prices for TV manufacturers,
retailers and consumers.Parks Associates has estimated this is
the year that HDTVs will cross the penetration mark of 50 percent of
U.S. households. But lackluster holiday sales could prevent the figure
from hitting Parks' earlier projected figure of 56 percent of U.S.
households.
From the article, "Good news: Cheaper electronics for the
holiday season" by Jeff Smith
December
1, 2008 — CRM Buyer
A new method of media audience measurement developed by Integrated Media
Measurement Inc. could weaken Arbitron's position in the audience
measurement realm, writes Parks Associates' Heather Way. IMMI's
method collects data by cell phone and measures the subject's exposure
to multiple media platforms.
From the article, "Competition for the Portable People
Meter?" by Heather Way
November
27, 2008 — The Albany Herald
Albany retailers such as Kohl’s, Circuit City and even Piggly Wiggly are
bringing out the deals when they open before daylight for “Black Friday”
crowds.
“Overall, the upcoming shopping season is a good place for consumers
with good credit and cash on hand — it’s definitely going to be a
bargain-hunting place,” said
Harry Wang, director of research at Parks Associates in
Dallas. “I expect some retailers to aggressively cut price points before
Black Friday in order to jump-start their sales.”
From the article, "Stores get ready for shoppers" by Susan
McCord
November
24, 2008 — Tech Policy Central
Daniel Ballon, a policy fellow in technology studies at San
Francisco-based think tank Pacific Research Institute (PRI), gave a
presentation on "The Future of Broadband" that looked at the market for
broadband and some of the models of projected growth.
He listed eight innovations that are likely to drive future broadband
growth:
- High-definition video-on-demand services like Hulu and Netflix (Parks
Associates forecasts that the customer base will expand seven-fold
in five years, to about 30% of households)
- Internet TV services like Joost, Fancast and Veoh (iSuppli
predicts the market will reach $5.8 billion by 2011)
- High-definition video conferencing like telepresence
- Telemedicine
- Virtual worlds
- Internet-connected gaming consoles like Xbox Live (Parks
Associates forecasts it to be a $8 billion+ market by 2013)
- Cloud computing (According to IDC, spending on cloud services
will reach $42 billion by 2012)
From the article, "PRI Fellow: The Future of Broadband Looks
Bright"
November
23, 2008 — Rocky Mountain News
Harry Wang, director of research at Parks Associates, which
tracks the industry, said that by the time the economic reality sank in
during the late summer, it was too late for panel makers to shut down
production. Large inventory should translate into lower prices for TV
manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
"Overall, the upcoming shopping season is a good place for consumers
with good credit and cash on hand - it's definitely going to be a
bargain-hunting place,"
Wang said. "I expect some retailers to aggressively cut price points
before Black Friday in order to jump-start their sales."
Parks Associates has estimated this is the year that HDTVs
will cross the penetration mark of 50 percent of U.S. households. But
lackluster holiday sales could prevent the figure from hitting Parks'
earlier projected figure of 56 percent of U.S. households.
From the article, "HDTV costs fall, but will people buy?:
Discounts likely during holidays amid weak economy, high inventory" by
Jeff Smith
November
19, 2008 — Satellite Today
Broadcasters in the United States will end analog transmissions Feb. 17
and move entirely to digital. Every facet of broadcasting will be
affected, and while the industry has been preparing for this switch for
several years, some broadcasters are scrambling to ensure their new
digital networks will be ready in time.The transition will directly
affect the roughly 1,500 local television stations and an estimated
11,000 cable headends across the United States. "When you combine DBS
and cable subscribers in the United States, market penetration is close
to 80 percent," says
Jayant Dasari of Parks Associates, a Dallas-based consultancy
which does research on digital and home networking markets. "Over 12
percent of American households rely on over-the-air programming, which
translates to roughly 13 million homes. Each of these homes will need to
do something before the February deadline."
From the article, "Digital Switchover Creates New Opportunities"
by Greg Berlocher
November
19, 2008 — WIRED Blog Network
Appearing to cave to Hollywood demands, Apple has quietly added a
restrictive copyright protection mechanism to its new MacBooks that is
preventing customers from watching movies on external displays. Apple
has secretly included a copy protection scheme called High-bandwidth
Digital Content Protection (HDCP) in the external display ports on the
latest models of it MacBooks, released in the middle of October.
Michael Cai, director of digital media at Parks Associates, a
digital market research firm, said the headaches caused by HDCP is
largely a result of poor communication between manufacturers.
"The industry hasn't done a very good job in coordinating with each
other to make sure their devices are compatible with each other so you
won't feel this issue,"
Cai said. "And they haven't done a very good job in terms of
educating consumers with these issues."
Cai, himself, experienced the pains of HDCP. He recently tried to
plug his Blu-ray equipped Sony VAIO laptop into his Sharp
high-definition TV, and the image wouldn't show up.
From the blog posting, "Apple Bends to Studios, Adds
Copyright Protection to MacBooks" by Brian X. Chen
November
18, 2008 — Top Tech News
National Geographic on Tuesday announced a new twist for the science and
educational organization -- video games. National Geographic Games (NGG)
will publish and develop games across major gaming console, handheld,
online and mobile platforms. National Geographic also said it will work
with premier game publishers and developers to create games based on its
core themes and media properties.
"This is a combination of what I call the mainstreamization of video
games," said
Michael Cai, a video-game analyst at Parks Associates. "Many
different types of media companies and household brands are leveraging
video games to a certain degree, whether it's driving people to their
portals or using video games as an advertising vehicle."
From the article, "National Geographic Launches Video-Game
Division " by Jennifer LeClaire
November
17, 2008 — engadgetHD
"With today's ever-advancing technology, the production of innovative,
fast, reliable, and easy-to-use networking solutions is key to providing
consumers with the ability to connect to a wide-range of
Ethernet-enabled applications, from personal computers to digital media
adapters and gaming consoles," said
Michael Cai, director of digital media and gaming with Parks
Associates, which specializes in research and analysis for digital
living technologies. "High-speed Powerline devices are able to support
this growing bandwidth demand while also transmitting high-quality
broadband Internet to the wireless problem areas of the home."
From the article, "Netgear's HDXB111 / XAVB101 powerline
adapters now shipping" by Darren Murph
November
17, 2008 — Test Freaks
"With today's ever-advancing technology, the production of innovative,
fast, reliable, and easy-to-use networking solutions is key to providing
consumers with the ability to connect to a wide-range of
Ethernet-enabled applications, from personal computers to digital media
adapters and gaming consoles," said
Michael Cai, director of digital media and gaming with Parks
Associates, which specializes in research and analysis for digital
living technologies. "High-speed Powerline devices are able to support
this growing bandwidth demand while also transmitting high-quality
broadband Internet to the wireless problem areas of the home."From the
blog, "NETGEAR's Award-Winning Powerline Adapters for HD and
Multimedia Streaming Now Available"
November
15, 2008 — What's New In Tech?
That’s indeed the billion-dollar question as telecom service providers
enter today’s video arena — a market that spans cable, satellite, the
Internet and mobile devices. At the TelcoTV show this week, Parks
Associates released some video-viewing data showing just how
confusing — yet full of opportunity — today’s video market really is.
According to Parks, Internet video viewing is indeed on the
rise, but so is the viewing of prime-time TV shows. The research shows
that 80% of adults in broadband homes do some form of Internet video
viewing. Twenty-six million adult home broadband users are watching
streaming TV episodes at least once a month, and about 6 million adults
in broadband homes pay for premium Web video content on a monthly basis.
At the same time, many of those are catching up on TV viewing they
missed — with just over half (52%) watching missed episodes, while 37%
liked watching shows for free, and 29% appreciated having fewer ads in
Web replays.
From the blog, "Who watches TV on TV anymore?"
November
14, 2008 — Digital Lifescapes
The tremendous growth of mobile broadband usage, with annual growth
rates of 200 percent in some parts of North America and upwards of 800
percent in parts of Europe, could create future challenges for mobile
service providers. However, a new market study from Parks Associates
found that many carriers rely on outdated business models, excessive
pricing or flat-rate billing strategies, to manage traffic or otherwise
attempt to reduce user demand.
"Carriers need to create business models with more refined network
controls in order to facilitate market growth while maintaining
profitability," said
Anton Denissov, research analyst, Parks Associates.
The custom study, conducted by Parks Associates on behalf of
Camiant, a global provider of policy control for the wireless, fixed,
and cable industries, included interviews with executives at major
mobile broadband providers in Canada, Europe, and the U.S. market. The
study determined the adoption and usage of mobile broadband and each
carrier's capabilities with respect to network and user control.
From the blog, "Manipulation of Mobile Broadband Usage" by David
H. Deans
November
13, 2008 — Reuters
After Thanksgiving, electronics retailers are expected to slash prices
of Blu-ray players, which originally sold for as high as $1,500 in 2006,
to between $150 and $200 per unit.
U.S. sales of Blu-ray titles have
totaled 14 million units this year, with studio officials anticipating
another 12 million to 15 million units selling in the fourth quarter.
But some industry analysts are skeptical.
"Earlier in the year, I would have been more likely to think that
we'd see a Blu-ray player plus a title or two as perhaps a good gift,"
said Kurt Scherf,
analyst with research firm Parks Associates, who said now he
believes the economy will "put a crimp in planned purchases."
From the article, "Hollywood holding breath on holiday DVD
sales" by Sue Zeidler
November
12, 2008 — San Jose Mercury News
Sezmi, the Silicon Valley start-up pioneering a new type of pay TV
service, has moved a step closer to becoming a real option for
frustrated cable customers.
The company plans to announce today that it has completed technical
trials of its system in the Seattle area and will begin consumer trials
there and in other areas by the end of the year.
With the completion of the technical trial, Sezmi has taken "another
step toward reality," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a
Dallas market research and consulting firm.
From the article, "New type of pay TV being tested " by Troy Wolverton
November
12, 2008 — Sezmi Press Release
“Consumers expect more from their TV experience every day. They want not
only to be entertained, but also to have control over what content they
view, when they view it and how they interact with it,” said
Anton Denissov, a digital media analyst with Parks Associates. “To
remain successful, service providers must find ways to deliver consumer
experience that seamlessly blends traditional entertainment with
personalization, interactivity and content discovery.”
From the press release, "Sezmi Completes Landmark Seattle
Trial"
November
12, 2008 — Extend Media Press Release
"Delivering the next generation of consumer media experiences will
entail distributing content across the TV, PC and mobile screens and
supporting it with multiple business models," said
Anton Denissov, a digital media analyst with Parks Associates.
"To successfully create such experiences, media companies and service
providers need robust, flexible and scalable distribution solutions that
can blend multiple technologies and business models while remaining
transparent to the consumer."
From the press release, "ExtendMedia's Video Distribution
Platform Offers More Flexibility to Deliver Online Content to PCs,
Televisions and Mobile Devices"
November
12, 2008 — Nortel Press Release
"Consumer response to advanced TV features that focus on greater
personalization indicate that operators constantly need to evolve
features to meet this demand," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst with Parks
Associates, a market research and consulting firm studying emerging
consumer technologies. "Providing platforms and tools to create unique
service offerings will allow operators to respond more quickly to
consumer tastes and to lower the cost of development and introduction of
these next must-have features."
From the press release, "Nortel Program Helps Service
Providers Speed Time to Market for New Video Applications"
November
11, 2008 — Telephony Online
Consumers are most interested in using Internet video to catch up on
prime-time television shows they missed, according to consumer research
by Parks Associates, which hosted a day-long research workshop at
Telco TV here today. That reality creates opportunity for both IPTV
providers and content owners if they are able to package content in a
way that generates advertising revenue.
One of the real surprises of Parks’s consumer research is
that, while Internet video viewing is on the rise, so is viewing of
prime-time TV shows, said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks. The research shows
that 80% of adults in broadband homes do some form of Internet video
viewing. Twenty-six million adult home broadband users are watching
streaming TV episodes at least once a month, and about 6 million adults
in broadband homes pay for premium Web video content on a monthly basis,
Scherf said. “When
I say ‘adults,’ it’s because we deliberately separated the viewing
habits of teenagers and younger people in broadband homes,” Scherf said.
Among those not watching Internet video services, nearly 75%
indicated they don’t like to watch video on a PC screen, “So if you can
find a way to make this work on a TV screen, they might be attracted,”
Scherf said.
“More than one third of those engaged in monthly Internet viewing
indicate that they are watching more prime-time TV than they did two
years ago, compared to 29% of all broadband users surveyed,”
Scherf said. While
that’s good news for producers of prime-time content, he added, it
doesn’t mean their ad models aren’t shifting, particularly as viewers
keep up with their shows via digital video recorders and Web replays.
From the article, "Telco TV: Online video, prime-time TV both
growing" by Carol Wilson
November
10, 2008 — Forbes.com
The 39-person team behind "Whirled" is best known for its online game
"Puzzle Pirates." The massively multiplayer game amassed $4 million in
revenue in 2007--primarily from the sale of virtual items like boots or
parrots for players' pirate avatars. The entire virtual goods economy,
estimates Parks Associates analyst Michael Cai, is worth about
$1.5 billion globally. Injected with $3.5 million in funding last March,
Three Rings hopes it can expand its virtual item business to support an
entire network of "Whirled" developers and designers.
"It's an interesting idea that combines user-generated content, open
source and embeddable virtual worlds, as well as successful business
models," says Parks Associates analyst
Michael Cai. "All those elements have been tried; it was just a
matter of time before someone came in and combined all those
[elements]." Whirled's success will depend on how well it manages its
user-created content to ensure consumers are finding the best games and
items,
Cai notes.
From the article, "A Brand New 'Whirled'" by Mary Jane
Irwin
November
10, 2008 — San Jose Mercury News
And consumers are tuning in — at least on their computers. Some 26
million Americans watch television shows online every month, according
to Parks Associates, an industry consulting firm. And 82 percent of U.S.
residential broadband customers watch some form of Internet video each
week, according to the Diffusion Group.
"That seems to be a pretty ripe market," said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates.
About 30 percent of Xbox 360 owners are paying for video monthly,
noted Scherf. The device has become a Trojan horse of sorts: Consumers
who bought it for one purpose are finding an additional use for it.
"They're not asking the end user to bring another black box into
living room to receive this content,"
Scherf said.
From the article, "Fully digital living room still a few years
away" by Troy Wolverton
November
10, 2008 — TechNewsWorld
YouTube must play nice with the major studios -- and their lawyers,
Parks Associates analyst Kurt Scherf
told the E-Commerce Times. "It's sort of a dual-pronged strategy,"
Scherf said. "They need to make sure major content providers are
satisfied, to make sure they're doing as much as they can to prevent
piracy, and at the same time to go the legitimate route by offering more
and more premium content."
Counting eyeballs also isn't enough for YouTube in tough economic
times. Hulu is currently capturing the eyeballs of major media
executives because it's found a way to make money from premium content
versus user-generated content, which most execs associate with viral
marketing campaigns. "It appears the major strategy (with online video)
is the length of time that a viewer spends watching video on a site. The
more time they're on there, the more ads you get in front of them, and
even more than that, it's the validity of the ads themselves, the number
of impressions and runs of a particular ad, that you get in concert,"
Scherf said.
"It's the dichotomy of the Internet. It can be used for good eyeball
stuff but in the end what's going to pay the rent? In the end you do
have to bow before Hollywood and the content creators. It's their
content that's going to make the money."
From the article, "YouTube Bags a Lion" by Renay San Miguel
November
7, 2008 — BETA NEWS
As previously reported in BetaNews, unit sales for Blu-ray drives look
likely to be lower than expected for 2008, too. Kurt Scherf, principal
analyst at Parks Associates, told BetaNews in late October that total
sales for the year will decline at least 25% from the firm's original
projections to about 2.2 million players in the US and 4.3 million
worldwide.
From the article, "Analyst: Blu-ray prices will nosedive for
the holidays" by Jacqueline Emigh
November
6, 2008 — San Francisco Chronicle
Following the lead of cable giants Comcast and Time Warner, AT&T - the
largest broadband provider in the country - has begun a test in Reno
that will set monthly limits on broadband users and charge them if they
exceed the caps.
Michael Cai, a broadband analyst for Parks Associates, said the move
toward caps appears inevitable as Internet service providers try to deal
with a dramatic rise in online video viewing and downloading and
peer-to-peer file sharing. He said service providers and Internet
content companies may consider partnering with content companies in the
future. But until that happens, he expects service providers to stick
with the caps, especially as network traffic increases.
"The extra bandwidth consumers are consuming is not that expensive
for service providers to stomach right now, but they're really trying to
future-proof their networks and also set up the right expectation for
consumers and content providers,"
Cai said.
From the article, "AT&T to test monthly cap on broadband
users" by Ryan Kim
November
5, 2008 — TMCnet
Following successful negotiations, Sky and Virgin Media reportedly have
agreed two new channel carriage deals that will run concurrently until
12 June 2011.This deal comes at a critical time, as one report “TV
2.0: The Consumer Perspective” by Parks Associates, expects cable TV
providers likely will lose significant numbers of customers to satellite
TV and IPTV if they don’t improve their services.
From the article, "Sky, Virgin Media End Channel Dispute, Ink
Carriage Deals" by Anuradha Shukla
November
5, 2008 — Red Herring
The newest iteration in the company’s DS line of handheld systems, the
DSi was announced at Nintendo’s media conference in October, less than a
month before the Japanese release November 1.
But the DSi may not have enough going for it to keep up the initial
success.
“The DS has reached a kind of plateau,” says
Michael Cai, Director of Digital Media and Gaming for Parks
Associates, “and I don’t think the DSi will appeal to all the DS
owners to upgrade or help [Nintendo] further expand the market for the
DS.”
From the article, "Nintendo DSi Sales Rocket" by Michael
Lee
November
4, 2008 — CRM Buyer
The emergence of bundled home services has led many providers to augment
their packages with value-added offers. However, as the services offered
and the associated in-home equipment grow in complexity, providers must
ensure that customer support remains affordable and effective, writes
Parks Associates' Kurt Scherf.
From the article, "Service Providers Compete on Technology - Why
Not Support? " by Kurt Scherf
November
3, 2008 — Electronic House
Move over TiVo and Apple TV; there’s another box in town. Western
Digital—you know them for portable hard drives and DVR expanders—today
is launching WDTV, a recession-friendly $129 adapter box that takes
media stored on a computer or portable USB drive and displays it on TV.
Quoting research from Parks Associates, Rader [Scott Rader,
senior product manager of branded products at Western Digital] says less
than 3-percent of broadband households currently connect a PC to a TV.
At the same time, he said, 14-percent of consumers want to be able to do
it but that existing solutions have either been too difficult or too
expensive.
From the article, "Western Digital Launches WDTV Box for
PC-to-TV Streaming" by Rebecca Day
October
30, 2008 — TechNewsWorld
With the agreement, the battle of the bands is now joined between
Harmonix's "Rock Band" and Activision's "Guitar Hero," the two
franchises that have helped launched music-themed gaming to retail
success. Both games sold about US$1.7 billion worth of units in 2007 and
are expected to top that this year, thanks to new editions "Rock Band 2"
and "Guitar Hero: World Tour," according to NPD.
"I remember four years ago when I was talking to one of the founders
of Harmonix,"
Michael Cai, director of digital media and gaming for Parks
Associates, recalled for TechNewsWorld. "I don't think the company's
founders themselves envisioned just how popular these games have become.
They are already trumping the sports genre on the consoles."
From the article, "Happiness Is a Warm Controller" by Renay
San Miguel
October
30, 2008 — Forbes.com
Although there is no exact count of avatars, the industry expects their
ranks to explode as the number of participants in 3D virtual worlds is
projected to grow nearly fivefold to 33 million by 2013, according to
Parks Associates analyst
Michael Cai. And this doesn't even take into consideration all the
kids and 'tweens playing in places like Club Penguin and Webkinz or
mingling on social networking hybrids like Meez and Gaia Online.
From the article, "The Business Of Avatars" by Mary Jane
Irwin
October
30, 2008 — PC Magazine
Sure, there are bunch of universal remotes on the market that promise to
control all of your electronic gadgets. PC Magazine has tested many and
we have a few pathologically geeky staffers who swear by them. Our
current favorite, the $249.99 Logitech Harmony One, is an impressive
feat of engineering, but in my humble opinion it's still a bear to
program and use. Anyway, the fact that we have to spend an extra $250 to
turn on our TVs is ridiculous.
Nonetheless, Parks Associates estimates that the market for
universal remote controls will be about $27 million in 2008. That is a
remarkable number, because I don't know many people working outside of
this building who can successfully get them to work. Much more common is
the remote control basket on the coffee table. Wicker or plastic, this
repository is typically filled with legacy remotes. Some are kept simply
for one crucial button—perhaps to turn on the DVD player. How many
remotes are in your basket?
From the article, "Lose Your Remote Control? " by Dan Costa
October
29, 2008 — Forbes.com
This is the future of virtual worlds and online games. Just a short
one-time installation of a browser plug-in--similar to what is required
to watch Flash videos on a site like YouTube--allows people to dive
straight into a virtual world or game whenever they visit a site.
This means instant access and massive distribution. No need to
download and install a bulky application. It'll be the next big boon for
3-D virtual worlds, which are expected to reach 33 million users by
2013, up from 7 million in 2007, according to Parks Associates
analyst
Michael Cai.
From the article, "Making Virtual Worlds Portable" by Mary
Jane Irwin
October
29, 2008 — Camiant Press Release
Information for the October 2008 research, conducted by Parks
Associates on behalf of Camiant, was gathered from in-depth
interviews with executives at 16 major mobile broadband providers in
Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey, Scandinavia, and the United
States to determine adoption and predominant usage patterns as well as
operator capabilities with respect to network and user control and
interest in pursuing new mobile broadband business models.
"Mobile carriers around the world, especially those offering
'unlimited' data plans, must rethink their approach to wireless
broadband network management," said
Anton Denissov, research analyst with Parks Associates.
"Failure to implement refined network controls and business policies
would condition abusive consumer use patterns and accelerate service
commoditization."
From the press release, "European and North American Mobile
Broadband Study Finds Change Is Key to Maintaining Profitability"
October
24, 2008 — Research and Markets Press Release
High hardware cost, licensing issues for video codecs, poor product
positioning and the lack of video content have resulted in the slow
market acceptance of portable media players (PMPs) in the past two
years. However, the PMP supply market is expected to pick up in the
coming years, fuelled by inexpensive flash-based players, growing
broadband penetration and increasing availability of online music and
user-generated video content. Global shipments of PMPs are projected to
grow from more than 128 million units in 2008 to about 185 million units
in 2011, according to iSuppli.
Although PMP export figures from China are not available as the
product line is not tracked independently by customs, the country is
estimated to account for 30 to 40 percent of global PMP shipments. CCID
Consulting predicts that China's PMP industry will grow at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.5 percent from 2008 to 2012,
outperforming the 30 percent CAGR for global shipments forecast by
market research firm Parks Associates.
From the press release, "China's Portable Media Players
Industry Will Grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 34.5
Percent from 2008 to 2012"
October
24, 2008 — TMCnet
A quick fix on the part of cable TV providers would be to improve or
introduce new services such as video on demand (VoD), Parks
Associates suggested.
The report maintains that when customers are unsatisfied they
naturally tend to look for other services and satellite and telco/IPTV
providers are planning targeting unsatisfied cable customers. Although
cable operators have improved service efforts, these operators will
still hemorrhage subscribers unless they are perceived as offering
leading-edge features at equal or better value. In today's economic
climate, carriers cannot afford to ignore these findings.
“Subscribers who actively use primetime VoD services show
significantly higher satisfaction levels,” said Parks Associates
analyst Kurt Scherf,
in a statement. “VoD initiatives, particularly those aimed at delivering
a ‘Primetime, Anytime’ experience are potential ARPU [average revenue
per user] generators and trigger churn toward the provider, a reversal
of current market trends.”
From the article, "Report: Cable TV Faces Stiff Competition
from Satellite TV, IPTV" by Nathesh
October
23, 2008 — The Viodi View
Parks Associates Web Cast, Broadband Video to the TV and Beyond,
is an excellent primer for anyone wanting to get the most out of the
upcoming Digital Hollywood and TelcoTV conferences. It is not too late
to listen, as Parks Associates has the recording online. Kurt Scherf,
Vice President, Principal Analyst, combines extensive primary and
secondary research together with excellent analysis to provide a clear
picture of the current broadband video market.
Scherf's
presentation provides an update on the broadband video space and the
various players that are distributing online video content, how online
video is being monetized and the rise of networked consumer electronics
as a way of viewing broadband video.
The major content owners are finding advertising as one way to
monetize existing content, with ad rates up to $70 CPM on sites such as
Hulu. The value of online advertising is more than just impressions, as
ad executives surveyed by Parks Associates highly value the
interactivity, reporting, immediate feedback and direct customer
relationships that broadband video provides.
From the article, "An Excellent Broadband TV Primer"
October
23, 2008 — MediaPost Publications's TV WATCH
At the same time, there is growing dissatisfaction , not the least of
which is how TV is delivered. The majority of TV viewers, who get their
TV stations and network through local cable systems, are increasingly
dissatisfied with the service.
The crux of this research, recently put together by Parks
Associates, says giving consumers more Video On Demand services
would improve these results. What does all this mean? Giving viewers
more individual control is good.
From the article, "Give Me Control -- Over Cable, Network
Programming, Racy Content ," by Wayne Friedman
October
20, 2008 — San Francisco Chronicle
In February, the
Sony-backed Blu-ray format became the standard for high-def DVDs when
Toshiba decided to throw in the towel on its rival HD DVD technology.
The format battle held back sales for both sides because consumers were
hesitant about choosing the wrong side in the war.
Sony's own PlayStation
3 video game console, which plays Blu-ray discs, helped swing the tide.
With that roadblock
cleared, Blu-ray backers hoped to see the start of an upswing in sales
this year, especially as the holiday shopping season approached.
Research firms such as Parks Associates in Dallas have projected
worldwide sales of would jump from about 800,000 in 2007 to about 40
million by 2012.
From the article, "Blu-ray has case of the economic blues,"
Chronicle Staff Writer
October
20, 2008 — Los Angeles Times
As a result, technology
that once took a decade or more to penetrate the mass market now takes
far less time, said Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst of Parks Associates in Dallas.
The growth of wireless
networking equipment was driven by consumers, who adopted the technology
for its convenience even as companies that worried about the expense and
security issues were slower to use it,
Scherf
said.
"It used to be that
technology trickled down from the corporation to the consumer," he said.
"That's really turned on its head. Consumers are now driving the
purchases and the innovation."
From the article, "Consumers now key to high tech's sales" by
Michelle Quinn and Alex Pham
October
17, 2008 — Multifamily Executive
A wide gap exists between the demand among multifamily residents for
high-speed Internet services and the marketing and promotion of those
services by on-site leasing agents, according to the exclusive research
findings of Dallas-based digital living research and analysis firm
Parks Associates, released this week at the 2008 Multifamily
Executive and Developer conferences in Las Vegas.
"Approximately a third of consumers go into the decision process
wanting to know what the technology offering is," explained Parks
Associates president
Stuart Sikes during his keynote review of the survey results.
"Multifamily executives need to have their properties do a better job
promoting the broadband services that have already been identified as
critical to market competitiveness."
Survey results additionally indicate that 85 percent of multifamily
firms are not planning on changing their technology investment levels in
2009 compared to 2008. According to the survey, the median investment
range for multifamily technology products and infrastructure is 1
percent to 5 percent of the total project cost.
From the article, "WiFi, Internet Service are Top Demands at
Multifamily Projects" by
Chris Wood
October
15, 2008 — Wall Street Journal
Lesser-known brands are dropping their Blu-ray player prices even
further. In early September, Best Buy Co. advertised its Insignia brand
Blu-ray player for $229. It also offered to sell the player at just $149
with the purchase of a high-definition TV.
Overall, prices for Blu-ray players dropped 12% in the third quarter
to $350, after adjusting for new-model introductions and old models
pulled from the market, according to PriceScan, a price- and
product-comparison service. Even now, market share for Blu-ray players
is still relatively small. Parks Associates, a market research
and consulting firm, says stand-alone Blu-ray players are in 1.7% of
U.S. households versus high-def TV from cable or satellite providers,
which is in 26% of U.S. households.
Manufacturers have been outfitting their Blu-ray DVD players with new
features to lure shoppers. Sony's new players now start up in about six
seconds, down from up to 50 seconds for previous players. Samsung's new
players come with a chip that improves the picture quality for
standard-definition DVDs on HD TVs.
From the article, "High-Def Options Vie With Blu-ray" by
Christopher Lawton
October
15, 2008 — Forbes.com
SanDisk is also building technology platforms that will leverage
SlotMusic's ability to sync up with servers through encrypted
connections. A streaming subscription service like Rhapsody, which
SanDisk has already partnered with for its line of Sansa music players,
could implement a seamless offline/online connection with the cards.
Parks Associates analyst
Michael Cai is skeptical that consumers, particularly young
consumers, will buy albums on memory cards or that less tech savvy folks
will understand SlotMusic. But, he notes, "if I'm in the market for a
1-GB SD card, I may as well get some music with it."
From the article, "SanDisk's iPod Challenge" by Mary Jane Irwin
October
13, 2008 — Unicorn Media Press Release
"The internet gives all content owners, big and small, a voice to speak
directly to their audiences. Yet not everybody has large media budgets
to invest into a distribution solution," said
Anton Denissov, a digital media analyst at Parks Associates.
"For digital media to flourish, the market will need a low-cost
distribution and content management solutions that will enable even the
smallest content producer to deliver studio-quality experience to their
audience." From the
press release, "Unicorn Media Connects Artists and Fans With
Ultimate Online Entertainment Experience"
October
13, 2008 — Boston Globe
Some of us prefer to communicate via e-mail. But researchers at Parks
Associates say that 20 percent of Americans have never used e-mail,
and half of these nonusers are 65 or older. So how will they communicate
with their grandkids?
From the article, "Devices designed with older people in
mind" byHiawatha Bray
October
10, 2008 — Forbes.com
The Dow plummeted below
9,000 points to a five-year low Thursday. Worldwide, economies are
slowing and consumers are worried sick about their future.
Indeed, the number of
registered and active users of Second Life, a virtual world that
simulates real-world experiences, have flattened out, says Parks
Associates analyst
Michael Cai. But this
might not be a reaction to the economy; it could be due to consumers
shifting to other virtual worlds.
Cai predicts that
corporations will start using Second Life or custom 3D virtual worlds to
hold meetings and cut travel costs.
From the article, "A 'Virtual' Escape From Economic Pain" by Mary Jane Irwin
October
9, 2008 — Top Tech News
Sony's virtual world is much
more sophisticated than Microsoft's, according to
Michael Cai, a
video-game analyst at Parks Associates. Sony has been working on
Home for years, and it's a more complex offering. While Cai doesn't
think the virtual-world component will rise to become a major
competitive differentiator over the short term, that could change.
"Because Sony took a step
further with Home, the graphics are so advanced and you can do much more
than just create an avatar for yourself,"
Cai said. "You can roam
around, you can go into different theaters and rooms to experiment with
new game demos or watch movie trailers, or you can go into a lobby and
play with some other avatars to warm up a little bit before you make new
friends."
"If you turn on your PS3
every day and you go into the virtual environment, you can not only say
hi to your real friends with a virtual avatar but also go into other
environments and play games or watch a movie together,"
Cai said. "It's
definitely going to appeal to a lot of people."
From the article, "Microsoft, Sony will Launch Competing
Virtual Worlds" by Jennifer LeClaire
October
8, 2008 — Forbes.com
More than a year in the works, Google finally launched its in-game
advertising platform Wednesday. Called AdSense for Games, the platform
will offer advertisers access to millions of Web-based Flash games.
The in-game advertising market is small, scoring only $1 billion from
advertising and subscriptions in 2007, according to research firm
Parks Associates, but the entry of Google is expected to make it
explode.
From the article, "Google Gets Game" by Mary Jane Irwin
October
8, 2008 — TMCnet
Mochi Media has announced collaboration with Google's AdSense that will
allow Google to place advertisements in MochiAds, Mochi Media's network
of online games. AdSense for Games will gain access to Mochi Media's
international ad inventory and reach gaming audiences on various Web
sites. With Mochi Media adding Google to its networks, Mochi Media's
game developers will also get increased monetization.
According to research firm, Parks Associates, casual gaming is
still small with about $1 billion from advertising and subscription
revenues in 2007. Independent developers distribute their games on Web
portals and via blogs and social networks, just like YouTube videos. A
copy of a casual game might be on every gaming blog on the Web, but once
set free from its developer's site, the developer might not have any
clue how many people have played it.
From the article, "Mochi Media Joins Google for Launch of
AdSense for Games" by Anamika Singh
October
6, 2008 — The Wall Street Journal
In general, AddictingGames, Newgrounds Inc. and other companies post
games on their Web sites and allow users to play them for free. They
make money off of advertising revenue, so the more games people play,
the higher the earnings. Some Web sites, however, sell subscriptions or
charge a fee to download and play the games.
Overall, revenue for the casual-gaming market — including downloads,
subscription fees and advertising sales — reached nearly $1 billion last
year, according to Parks Associates, a market research firm.
Michael Cai, an analyst with Parks, says there are more than
150 million Internet users in the U.S., and the majority of them play
some kind of casual game.
From the
article, "Notes From the Underground: Indie Videogames Come of Age"
by Christopher Lawton
October
3, 2008 — CE Pro
Managed home automation will show the strongest growth of all, with an
anticipated 1.3 million shipments in 2013.The study says significant
growth will be driven by broadband and telecom service providers that
start to offer managed services, which provide functionality and remote
monitoring via a computer or smartphone, as part of "quintuple play"
bundles.
Parks Associates says the wireless controls market will exceed
$3 billion in 2012.
From the
article, "Number of Home Automation Systems to Hit 4 Million in
2013" by Jason Knott
October
2, 2008 — Boston Globe
Some of us prefer to communicate via e-mail. But researchers at Parks
Associates say that 20 percent of Americans have never used e-mail,
and half of these nonusers are 65 or older. These are people who've
never used a computer and probably never will. From the
article, "Bigger can be better" by Hiawatha Bray
October
1, 2008 — Los Angeles Times Blog
Netflix Inc. moved one step closer to delivering on the promise its name
implies: providing movies via the Internet.The Starz agreement helps
to narrow that gap. Netflix subscribers who have unlimited plans, which
start at $8.99 a month, gain access to the 2,500 movies and other video
offerings from Starz as part of the package.
"This solves a huge problem for Netflix, because so much of the
criticism about the instant-watch feature is it's just cruddy content,"
said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst for researcher Parks Associates.
From the
Entertainment News & Buzz blog posting, "More mainstream movies for
Netflix online" by Dawn C. Chmielewski
October
1, 2008 — EE Times
Wi-Fi dominates today used in an estimated 53 percent of networked homes
in the U.S. according to Parks Associates (Dallas). By contrast,
only about 19 percent use some form of wired networking other Category 5
Ethernet cable. Powerline represents a little less than half From the
article, "Standard to unify powerline shot down in Madrid " by Rick
Merritt
September
30, 2008 — WD (Western Digital) Press Release
Popularity of home networks is growing worldwide, with penetration as
high as 50 percent in some countries, according to a recent Parks
Associates study. Families with growing digital media collections on
multiple computers find it increasingly difficult to organize and share
their music, movies and photos. From the
press release, "WD ShareSpace(TM) Storage Systems Offer Up To 4 TB
of Storage in a Small Footprint"
September
30, 2008 — Forbes.com
IGA Worldwide Chief Executive
Justin Townsend contends that his company's reach is actually greater
than Massive's. After it launched its PS3 ad initiative with EA's
"Madden NFL 09," IGA has seen "a big increase in the volume of sales,"
says Townsend. The average ad buy has gone from $300,000 to $1
million. All told, the in-game ad industry is expected to reach $800
million in the U.S. by 2012, according to Parks Associates. From the
article, "IGA's Massive Ad Play" by Mary Jane Irwin
September
24, 2008 — DivX Press Release
"There is increasing demand for a high-definition experience across
consumer electronics devices, and digital content enablers must adapt to
this," said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President and Principal Analyst, Parks Associates. "The
high-definition DivX Certification of Panasonic's UniPhier chip marks a
considerable shift for digital content traditionally consumed in
standard definition and significantly contributes to the growing
momentum DivX is experiencing within the Blu-ray market."From the
press release, "DivX Announces the Panasonic "UniPhier" as the
World's First DivX Certified(R) Blu-ray Chip to Support Full HD
Playback"
September
24, 2008 — MediaPost's Online Media Daily
Worldwide revenues from connected consoles--or gaming systems that are
connected to the Internet via broadband--are set to top $4 billion in
just two years, according to new data from Parks Associates.
Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, Parks Associates' director of digital
media and gaming, said that companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo
will increasingly compete with cable providers and set-top box makers
for user and advertiser dollars as they reach those projections.
"Game consoles are becoming multimedia Trojan horses,"
Cai
said. "They're well-positioned as a platform for other types of
entertainment media because they're typically in the living room,
connected to that gorgeous, 42-inch plasma screen. It's setting up a
serious competition between console makers, service providers and
emerging set-top box providers like Vudu."
Parks Associates estimates that by the end of this year,
roughly 40 million households worldwide will have a connected console.
By 2013, that number will jump to 170 million, posing a serious threat
to set-top box manufacturers in the short term, and "established
incumbents like Comcast and DirecTV in the longer term,"
Cai
said. The threat lies in both the sheer number of consoles and the
increased consumption of non-game media by their owners.
In the U.S., well over 50% of all current-generation consoles (Xbox
360, PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii) are connected to the Internet.
Nearly one-third of all Xbox 360 owners and almost half of all PS3
owners watch DVDs on their consoles, while about a third of owners play
music on either one. In terms of downloadable content, over a quarter of
all PS3 owners download movies and TV shows, while just about 20% of
Xbox 360 owners do.
Cai
said that the industry could expect those multimedia usage numbers to
grow, particularly as console makers continue to broker content deals
like the Netflix/Xbox Live partnership, which was announced over the
summer.
Still,
Cai
said the Wii would emerge as the king of connected consoles in terms of
market penetration, followed by the PlayStation 3. By 2011, there will
be nearly 60 million Internet-connected Wiis, according to Parks
Associates' estimates. In contrast, there will be roughly 40 million
and 30 million connected PS3s and Xbox 360's, respectively. "The PS3 is
catching up quickly in sales and connection rate with the Xbox 360,"
Cai
said. "So we expect it will end up in third place by the end of this
cycle."
From the article, "Consoles Gain In Popularity, May Steal Ad
Dollars " by Tameka Kee
September
23, 2008 — TMCnet
The $98 million investment in Radialpoint makes sense for TA Associates
on account of several factors. First, broadband subscribers are likely
to grow 12 percent to 570 million in 2012 from the present 350 million,
according to Parks Associates, a leading research and analysis
firm focused on the digital home environment.
Second, the Parks research says the size of the Internet
Service Provider (ISP)-managed Internet security and care services will
be $2.6 billion by 2012 in North America alone. Market penetration for
managed Internet security services are to jump from 9 percent in 2008 to
more than 17 percent by 2012.
From the article, "TA Associates Infuses $98 Million in
Radialpoint" by Rajani Baburajan
September
19, 2008 — CE Pro
The market for wireless and powerline control solutions will increase
from $740 million in 2008 to more than $3 billion in 2012, says Parks
Associates.Parks Associates attributes the growth to more
companies entering the market with remote monitoring and energy
management products, including Black & Decker, Hawking, iControl,
Schlage and Wayne Dalton.
The study also says remote control through Wi-Fi-enabled devices,
like the iPhone, will help the increase.
"The era of electronic home controls has arrived," says
Bill Ablondi, director of home systems research for Parks
Associates.
The report says lighting applications will drive the growth for
powerline controls.
"Another key application is remote home monitoring,"
Ablondi said. "We expect to see major manufacturers join forces with
telecommunications and video service providers to fuel consumer demand
for remote monitoring and Web-based security services."
From the article, "Wireless Controls Market to Exceed $3 billion
by 2012" by Steve Crowe
September
17, 2008 — CE Pro
There will be more than seven million people using home healthcare
technology in the United States and Europe by 2012, according to
Parks Associates.Parks Associates says potential clients
will range from seniors with chronic conditions to young consumers who
want to "self-manage their personal health."
"Service providers cannot ignore the opportunities inherent in the
e-Health care model," says
Harry Wang, director, health and mobile product research for
Parks Associates.
Parks Associates says integrators shouldn't worry about the
complexities of insurance and reimbursement in the home health market.
It says integrators have dealt with similar issues, saying digital TV
services "required negotiating franchise and licensing fees with a
variety of different players."
"Service providers are in a unique, once-in-a-lifetime position to
enter and serve this growing service industry,"
Wang says.
From the article, "Home Health Technology Users to Hit 7 Million
in 2012 " by Steve Crowe
September
15, 2008 — Dallas Morning News Technology Blog
More than 10 percent of customers would switch to a new TV provider to
get a multiroom DVR, according to a July survey by research firm
Parks Associates.
Consumers were more enthusiastic about switching providers to get a
multiroom DVR than most other hypothetical features Parks asked
about in the survey, including video games, said Kurt Scherf,
a vice president at the Dallas-based firm. The two features that
outranked the DVR: a wide selection of on-demand TV programs, and having
caller identification information appear on the TV screen.
From the blog posting, "U-verse adds multi-room DVR service"
by Andrew Smith
September
15, 2008 — Seagate Press Release
"With the amount of content being created and consumed today, the
average broadband household will soon need close to a terabyte of
storage to account for their personal media collections on PCs, portable
devices, and DVRs," said
Jane Shields, research analyst, Parks
Associates. "With Seagate’s coupling of high-capacity, reliable and
easy-to-use solutions with attractive designs, the company is helping
more people enjoy the benefits that come with backup and sharing of
their digital media collections."
From the press release, "Seagate Debuts New Storage Solutions
to Address Growing Consumer Need to Store, Share and Enjoy Digital
Content"
September
15, 2008 — Denver Post
"With the amount of content being created and consumed today, the
average broadband household will soon need close to a terabyte (1,000
gigabytes) of storage to account for their personal media collections on
PCs, portable devices and DVRs," said
Jane Shields, a research analyst
with Dallas-based Parks Associates. From the article, "Slim
hard drive opens windows to future" by Steve Raabe
September
13, 2008 — InformationWeek
Today, "about 27% of all households in the United States have some kind
of security system, and 21% of all households have a security system
that's professionally monitored," said
Bill Ablondi, director of home systems research at Dallas-based
research firm Parks Associates.
"The average dealer-installed security system in 2008 was about
$770-$800," said
Ablondi. Whereas for DIY, "it's about $180 for the average security
controller," and while that doesn't include the sensors, adding a
grab-bag of wireless sensors and a motion detector should still keep the
bill under $400. Of course, "if you have a large home with 37 rooms and
you're putting window monitors on all of that," he said, expect to pay
more.
Monitoring for the absence of expected activities can also be quite
useful. For example,
Ablondi said such a system could monitor the home of an elderly
relative, with a notification set to alert you if the motion detector
doesn't detect any movement in the home by noon. "It could be comforting
for people who are concerned about elderly parents, and perhaps let them
live in the home a little longer and not need so much care," he notes.
What else might next-generation security systems offer? One trend to
watch, said
Ablondi, is more remote-control security for the home, such as the
new Z-Wave lock made by Schlage.
Beyond remote locks,
Ablondi said his research finds that 12-15% of households are
interested in remotely controlling the temperature or lighting in their
home, and remote-controlled thermostats are likewise on the way.
From the article, "Home Security Gets A Web Makeover" by
Mathew Schwartz
September
12, 2008 — MacNewsWorld
Others announced online virtual worlds and games tied to make-believe
dinosaurs, the TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the Disney film
"Cars."
In the future, there may be little difference between virtual worlds,
video games and social networks, predicted Michael Cai,
an analyst with Parks Associates in Dallas.
"We're obviously seeing a lot of convergence of them all already," he
said.
From the article, "Virtual Worlds: Big Business for Kids'
Games" by Bob Keefe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September
11, 2008 — LinuxInsider
Businesses are beginning to discover and
experiment with virtual worlds. Many, particularly large, technology
companies, are already realizing benefits, such as the ability to meet
with employees scattered across the globe, says Parks Associates' Michael Cai.Virtual worlds come in all shapes and sizes, says Michael Cai, director of
broadband and gaming for Dallas-based research firm
Parks Associates.
In this exclusive interview with ECT News
Network,
Cai discusses how virtual worlds are
currently being implemented in the enterprise and offers his best guess
as to how virtual worlds will shape up in the enterprise in the next
three to five years.
We're only about three years into serious
applications of virtual worlds in the enterprise, according to
Cai. Business applications are still very
much in the experimental stage. Tech companies such as Cisco, IBM and
Intel are leading the way in adapting virtual worlds for business
purposes.
For the future,
Cai expects a deeper adoption of virtual
worlds by corporations. He also makes an interesting note about the
future of virtual worlds in the enterprise. In five to 10 years, teens
who have grown up with and engaged heavily in the pure entertainment
offered by virtual worlds will begin bringing their expertise to the
corporate suite,
Cai predicts. This will probably translate
into longevity for virtual worlds in the real world of business.
From the article, "Parks Associates' Michael Cai: Business
Gets Done in Virtual Worlds" by Blake Glenn
September
10, 2008 — Media Post's Online Daily
U.S. marketers are set to spend more than $700
million on in- and around-game advertising this year, according to
research from Parks Associates. From the article, "Helping
Brands 'Play' with Gamers: Q & A with Matt Story " by Tameka Kee
September
9, 2008 — Bloomberg.com
The feature may help AT&T woo customers away
from cable companies such as Comcast Corp. that don't yet offer such a
service. More than 10 percent of customers would switch to a new TV
provider to get a multiroom DVR, according to a July survey by research
firm Parks Associates.
Consumers were more enthusiastic about
switching providers to get a multiroom DVR than most other hypothetical
features Parks asked about in the survey, including video games, said
Kurt Scherf, a vice president at the Dallas-based firm. The two features
that outranked the DVR: a wide selection of on-demand TV programs, and
having caller identification information appear on the TV screen.
The Parks survey found that 16 percent of consumers would be willing
to pay more per month for a multiroom DVR.
From the article, "AT&T Sells Digital Recorder for TVs
Throughout Home (Update2) " by Crayton Harrison
September
9, 2008 — USA Today
That also gets the more than 40 million homes with Internet-connected
game systems "to turn on their consoles on a daily basis," says Michael Cai of
Parks Associates, a Dallas-based research firm.
Cai
estimates that global online revenues from games played on consoles will
grow from $1.3 billion this year (mostly from Xbox Live) to more than $8
billion in 2013. "You buy clothes for your avatar or you download
another song. It all adds up," he says.
From the article, "Social networking goes gaming " by Mike
Snider
September
9, 2008 — Dempa Shimbun
Parks Associates Cited in Japanese Daily Tech Paper that circulates to
close to 500K people.Read full article here:
Parks Associates cited in Dempa Shimbun
September
8, 2008 — Celeno Press Release
“The next wave of home connectivity applications will be heavily
oriented toward support service provider deployments of
entertainment-centric applications and networked consumer electronics,
which emphasizes the absolute necessity for home networking solutions to
support robust in-home throughput and quality-of-service measures,” said Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. “With
the number of in-home networked devices to top one billion by 2012,
Celeno is ideally positioned to take advantage of new home networking
rollouts, as its silicon is specifically designed to support
high-quality and reliable streams of HD content.”
From the press release, "Celeno Debuts WiFi Technology for
Carrier Grade HD Video Home Networking: WiFi Silicon Solves Home Wiring
for IPTV Service Providers"
September
8, 2008 —Austin American-Statesman
In the future, there might be little differences between virtual worlds,
video games and social networks, said Michael Cai,
an analyst with Parks Associates in Dallas. "We're obviously
seeing a lot of convergence of them all already," he said.
From the article, "The kids are taking over virtual worlds:
Although digital realms haven't caught on among adults, future is paved
with child-centric fare" by Bob Keefe
September
5, 2008 —CNET News
Internet-connected game consoles will generate $8 billion in revenue for
the Big Three companies through online content and services in 2013,
according to a report released Thursday by research firm Parks
Associates.
Clearly, console games aren't going away in the next five years. And
if $8 billion in revenue can be generated just through services, then
they are unlikely to go away for a much longer period of time.
From the "Negative Approach" blog posting, "For game
consoles, an $8 billion Net target" by Dave Rosenberg
September
4, 2008 — Game Daily
Market research firm Parks Associates has released a new report
called "Connected Consoles: Games, Media and Beyond," which examines the
revenue streams from digital video distribution, downloadable games and
content, virtual worlds and avatar-based microtransactions, multiplayer
gaming services, and dynamic in-game advertising. Ultimately, Parks
believes that the "big three" console makers – Microsoft, Sony and
Nintendo – will greatly benefit from the online boom and increasing
penetration of broadband Internet.
By 2013, Parks forecasts that online content and services for
Internet-connected game consoles will generate over $8 billion in global
revenue for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. "Broadband connectivity, now
a common feature for game consoles, is a key enabler for new business
models," said Yuanzhe Michael Cai,
Director of Broadband and Gaming, Parks Associates. "Among the
different online revenue opportunities, digital video distribution and
downloadable games and content are the most promising."
Microsoft has been dominating the online scene with its Xbox Live
service, but Parks notes that "Sony and Nintendo are gaining
ground as they ramp up their base of connected customers and diversify
monetization methods." Sony recently launched its movie and TV downloads
service on the PlayStation Network, and the company has been offering
far larger games to download over PSN than file size limits will allow
on Xbox Live. Meanwhile, Nintendo has been ramping up its online
offerings with WiiWare, which complements the company's library of
catalogue titles on Virtual Console.
"Led by Microsoft's success in Xbox Live, all three console makers
are dreaming up many innovative offerings to entice console households
to get connected and spend more money," concluded
Cai.
From the article, "Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to Generate $8
Billion in Online Revenues by 2013, says Parks Associates" by James
Brightman
September
4, 2008 — Connected Home News
Online content and services for Internet-connected game consoles will
generate over US$ 8bn in global revenue by 2013 for Microsoft, Sony and
Nintendo, according to a new study by Parks Associates.
The study, called "Connected Consoles: Games, Media and Beyond",
forecasts revenue streams from digital video distribution, downloadable
games and content, virtual worlds and avatar-based micro-transactions,
multiplayer gaming services and dynamic in-game advertising. The report
also reveals that out of the "big three" game console manufacturers,
Microsoft currently dominates the online content and service market, but
Sony and Nintendo are gaining ground as they ramp up their base of
connected customers and diversify monetisation methods.
“Broadband connectivity, now a common feature for game consoles, is a
key enabler for new business models,” said Yuanzhe Michael Cai,
Director of Broadband and Gaming, Parks Associates. “Among the
different online revenue opportunities, digital video distribution and
downloadable games and content are the most promising. Led by
Microsoft’s success in Xbox Live, all three console makers are dreaming
up many innovative offerings to entice console households to get
connected and spend more money."
From the article, "Online content and services to generate over
US$ 8bn for game console manufacturers by 2013, predicts Parks"
September
2, 2008 — Rocky Mountain News
A Parks Associates survey of 1,090 U.S. households
earlier this year showed that home theaters remain popular and that they
are more recession-proof than several other categories of consumer
electronics.
"I think that the notion of cocooning (at home) also resonates well
in hard times," wrote analyst Kurt Scherf.
From the article, "Economy slows home entertainment, automation
growth" by Jeff Smith
September
1, 2008 — Cable 360 Net
Reviewing 2007, Parks Associates issued a report
declaring that worldwide telco/IPTV services - defined as
"landline-based, multichannel and on-demand video services provided by a
telephone operator" - grew from 4.7 million households in 2006 to 14
million in 2007.
Consistent with Light Reading's Top Ten list, Parks saw growth
occurring primarily in Europe, then Asia.From the article, "IPTV:
Global, But Not Dominant" by Craig Kuhl
August
30, 2008 — IBL News
Online video viewed on TV sets will lead to an explosion of
consumer spending: $6 billion by 2013, says a report by Park Associates.
“Consumption of premium Internet video content to date has been low,”
said Parks Associates.
“Services have been available only on less-than-optimal screens – PCs
and portable multimedia players. But new connected products that link to
premium Internet video services are emerging at a rapid pace, moving the
Internet video viewing experience into the living room. This shift will
help grow revenues considerably.”
This report finds that greater ownership of connected game consoles,
networked TVs and alternative video-on-demand set-top receivers is
generating significant growth in user-paid revenues (Apple TV is, in our
view, one of those best examples).
This consultancy says that the Internet video market is maturing as
portals, aggregators, broadcasters, and other content creators and
publishers are developing go-to-TV approaches and ad-supported premium
video services. “Future areas to watch include ad-supported movie
streams, new targeted advertising approaches, and Hollywood’s efforts to
offer more electronically distributed content through download-to-burn
kiosks and other manufacturing-on-demand outlets.”
From the article, "Consumers will spend billions on TV-based
Internet video by 2013" by M. AMIGOT
August
28, 2008 — DivX Press Release
“A key defining trend of advanced television services is the
convergence of video content from numerous sources,” said Kurt Scherf,
Vice President and Principal Analyst with Parks Associates. “The ability
of set-top box manufacturers to support high-quality video solutions –
including DivX – will be a critical factor in their ability to offer
flexible and unique viewing experience to television subscribers. The
new DivX capable set-top box from Vestel is a good example of the type
of integration we should expect in the future.”
From the industry press release, "Vestel First to Announce DivX
STB for European Market"
August
28, 2008 — WirelessHD Press Release
"WirelessHD shows good potential for wireless transmission of HD
audio and video optimal for applications such as gaming and Blu-ray
DVD," said Kurt Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst with Parks
Associates. "With the availability of WirelessHD 1.0, companies can take
advantage of the promise of high-bandwidth wireless video transmission.
This is a catalyst for placing wireless high-definition solutions in the
spotlight of connected home applications."
From the industry press release, "WirelessHD's Industry Leadership
and Award-Winning Solutions Fuel Consortium Expansion and Standards
Harmonization"
August
26, 2008 — Storage Appliance Corp. Press Release
"The market for backup products has been largely dominated by
complicated devices requiring a fairly sophisticated understanding of
technology," said Scherf,
vice president, Parks Associates. "That's why the vast majority
of consumers have chosen to take their chances and do nothing to
safeguard their data. Eliminating the fear factor by making the process
fully automatic will hopefully encourage more people to backup,
ultimately eliminating the needless heartache that comes from data
loss."From the industry press release, "Storage Appliance
Corp. announces availability of the first truly automatic system that
backs up your PC - right out of the box"
August
24, 2008 — New York Times
France Télécom has sold six million of its Livebox gateways
through 2007, according to Parks Associates, a research firm in
Dallas.By the end of this year, 370 million homes worldwide will have
broadband Internet, Parks Associates estimates. But only 5
percent, about 17 million, will have residential media gateways.
“What this means for consumers is that some people may bring products home and
discover that they can’t communicate with others on their networks,” said Kurt
Scherf, a senior analyst at Parks Associates. “We are just starting to see the
first networked products roll out and a shakeout in standards is inevitable.”From the article, "A
Home Network Where Your TV Talks to Your Fridge" by
Kevin J. O'Brien
August
24, 2008 — International Herald Tribune
One way in which they are doing this is by promoting so-called
residential gateways, boxes that combine an Internet router with a modem
and software than can wirelessly shuttle and manage video and audio
among devices in a home. France Télécom has been the leader among
European telecommunications companies, selling six million of its
Livebox gateways through 2007, according to Parks Associates, a
research firm in Dallas.To be sure, while networked devices like
Internet-ready TVs, set-top boxes, residential gateways and game
consoles like Microsoft's Xbox360 or Sony's PlayStation3 are
increasingly common, the truly "networked" wireless home is still a few
years off, industry experts say. By the end of this year, 370 million
homes worldwide will have broadband Internet, Parks Associates
estimates. About 4 in 10, or 150 million, will also have WLAN routers
connecting computers to the Internet. Only 5 percent, about 17 million,
will have residential media gateways.
"What this means for consumers is that some people may bring products
home and discover that they can't communicate with others on their
networks," said Kurt
Scherf, a senior analyst at Parks Associates. "We are just
starting to see the first networked products roll out and a shakeout in
standards is inevitable."
From the article, "Home electronics go wireless" by
Kevin J. O'Brien
August
22, 2008 — BETA NEWS
In his paper "No Way to Regulate: Mobile TV in Europe," Parks
Associates Director of Research
John Barrett wrote, "Unfortunately, the market and technological
conditions [bear] little resemblance to the GSM scenario regulators
faced in the early eighties. For starters, spectrum availability differs
from country to country. DVB-H is ideally suited for the UHF TV
spectrum, but in some markets (the U.K., France, etc.), TV broadcasters
are still using these frequencies and will not fully vacate them until
around 2012.
"Secondly, the use of DVB-H denies operators the possibility of
leveraging established network infrastructure,"
Barrett continued. "As a counterpoint to DVB-H, DMB (Digital
Multimedia Broadcasting) technology is designed to piggyback on DAB
(Digital Audio Broadcasting) radio networks, which are deployed
extensively in Holland, the U.K., and Germany."
From the article, "European solidarity crumbling on digital
mobile TV" by Tim Conneally
August
19, 2008 — LinuxInsider
The one-two punch of news is generating plenty of buzz within the mobile
industry, and one thing's for sure: All eyes are now on Google to see if it will
revolutionize the cell phone, or just fall flat.
"For the consumer, at the end of the day, what really
matters is what can I do with the phone," Parks Associates
Director of Research
John Barrett told LinuxInsider. "If Android allows you to do things
you can't do otherwise and it's better, then consumers will start to
say, 'I know what this is, and I want it.' That's going to be hard to
get to that point," he predicted.
Getting to that point,
Barrett believes, may ultimately boil down to the providers.
"To me, the key variable is really not so much
Android. ... It's your big mobile phone operators that command most of
the market share and how are they going to act and react," he noted.
"I think the idea behind Android is a good one -- the
idea of having an open platform -- but at the same time, phones are
different from computers. Most people don't realize their phone has an
OS on it, much less care about what OS it has,"
Barrett concluded.
From the article, "Google Gives Android Devs a Kit to Tinker
With" by JR Raphael
August
19, 2008 — Home Media Magazine
The report from Parks Associates said that increased
availability of connected video game consoles, networked TVs and
video-on-demand (VOD) set-top boxes will spearhead the growth in
user-generated revenue.
“Consumption of premium Internet video content to date has been low,”
said Kurt
Scherf, VP, principal analyst of Parks Associates. “Services
have been available only on less-than-optimal screens, [including] PCs
and portable multimedia players.”
The analyst said advances in ad-supported movie streams, targeted
advertising, download-to-burn kiosks and on-demand venues will spur the
Internet video market.
“New connected products that link to premium Internet video services are
emerging at a rapid pace, moving the Web video viewing experience into
the living room,”
Scherf
said. “This shift will help grow revenue considerably.”
From the article, "Report: Web Video to Top $6B by 2013 " by
Erik Gruenwedel
August
19, 2008 — Canada's Here's How!
A recent study conducted by Parks Associates finds that
some form of networking will be found in 168 million homes across the
world this year. "Broadband growth pushed Europe ahead of North
America in terms of home network adoption," said Kurt
Scherf, Vice President, Principal Analyst at Parks Associates.
"With the network in place, providers will tie in high-demand
entertainment services.”
Scherf
predicts that, by 2012, more than a third of homes will employ home
networking, including entertainment and multimedia, and especially IPTV.
From the article, "168 Million Homes will Adopt Networking
This Year" by Christine Persaud
August
18, 2008 — Associated Press
The common denominator for the existing services is that they
cost money, limiting their adoption. AT&T and Verizon Wireless charge
$15 per month for 10 channels. Sprint bundles MobiTV with some high-end
plans and charges $9.99 per month as standalone service.
Research director
John Barrett at analysis firm Parks Associates points to the
fees as a problem, and recommends that operators provide free content.
"A free taste would go a long way in making the consumer case for
mobile TV," he wrote in a recent report. "Mobile TV services have taken
off in Japan and South Korea, where service is offered free of charge.
In Italy, where additional fees have been the norm, usage has been
limited."
From the article, "Analog TV shutdown kills free cell-phone
TV" by Peter Svensson
August
18, 2008 — Mercury News
Parks Associates expects that by 2012, tech-savvy consumers with
broadband connections in their homes will be storing some 900 gigabytes
worth of data — whether that's television shows on their DVR, movies
they've downloaded from the Internet, photos they've taken or digital
songs they've bought.
Parks Associates found that just 10 percent of households
regularly back up their digital files. While Apple has incorporated
backup software into its Mac OS and many external hard drive makers
include the software with their drives, backing up data is still too
complex a task for most consumers, analysts say.
From the article, "Not enough space: The dicey digital game
of storing, backing up files" by Troy Wolverton
August
18, 2008 — The Daily News
82 Percent of Americans are online, according to a May survey by
the research firm Parks Associates, up from 41.5 percent in 2000.
Should the fact McCain, 71, is Internet illiterate be an issue in
presidential politics? (In July he told the New York Times, "I don't
e-mail" and that he has people surf the Web for him.)
From the article, "Two thirds of corporations pay no income
tax at all" by John Eby
August
15, 2008 — U.S. News World & Report
"A couple of new studies project similar numbers for the
expected boom in Internet video over the next few years. Parks
Associates says consumer spending on broadband video will grow from
about $1 billion this year to about $6 billion in 2013.
Parks' analyst, Kurt
Scherf, says studios are sold on Internet video. "Hollywood has
discovered that online video distribution provides more upside to their
businesses than risk,"
Scherf
says. If he's right, and the studios open the spigots, the growth
numbers may be conservative."
From the blog posting, "Hollywood Embracing Internet Video,
Analyst Says" by David LaGesse of Dave's Download
August
15, 2008 — Telecom TV
This one, a study by Parks Associates’ called “Video:
Direct-to-Consumer Services” would have us all believe that “TV-based
Internet video” receivers and web-enabled CE platforms will drive
revenues for premium Internet video services past the US$6 billion mark
over the next 5 years."
The report goes on to say that so-called “transactional” money,
comprising of direct-to-TV videos, account for 75 per cent of these
revenues.
Furthermore, Parks Associates says, "increased ownership of
connected game consoles, networked TVs, and alternative video-on-demand
set-top receivers is generating significant growth in user-paid
revenues.” Kurt
Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Parks Associates
says, “Consumption of premium Internet video content to date has been
low. Services have been available only on less-than-optimal screens such
as PCs and portable multimedia players.
ABI corroborates the finding of Parks Associates and agrees
that "the PC is destined to become the main multimedia content playback
device and will grow to an installed base of 25 million over the next
five years."
Meanwhile Kurt
Scherf says, “The Internet video market is maturing as portals,
aggregators, broadcasters, and other content creators and publishers
develop go-to-TV approaches and ad-supported premium video services.
Future areas to watch include ad-supported movie streams, new targeted
advertising approaches, and Hollywood’s efforts to offer more
electronically distributed content through download-to-burn kiosks and
other manufacturing-on-demand outlets."
From the article, "Billions of bucks to be spent on web video
" by Andrew Beutmueller
August
15, 2008 — TechNewsWorld
Buyers of advanced URCs are more likely to have a brand in mind,
but the identification with brand remains somewhat weak. As long as
brand awareness is relatively weak, reliance upon retail as a source of
information will be high. Buyers of URCs cite too much information at
retail, which Parks Associates expects to include confusion from
inconsistent or contradictory information.
Not surprising is the lack of specific share percentage for AMX and
Crestron; these are low-volume, high-priced remote units, acquired by
only the top of the socioeconomic food chain. RTI does show up on this
consumer survey, and this marks the first time Parks Associates
has seen RTI appear outside of installing dealer surveys, showing an
incipient but growing taste among consumers for more capable and robust
models.
From the article, "Universal Remotes: Do Brand Names Turn
Consumers On?" by Tricia Parks
August
14, 2008 — TIME
"McCain is an example of what, under the Clinton
Administration, used to be called the digital divide. Back then it was
the cause of much gnashing of political teeth; in his 2000 State of the
Union address, Clinton announced a "national crusade" to take the
Internet to those who didn't have it. That year 41.5% of Americans were
online, according to U.S. Census numbers. This past May a survey by the
research firm Parks Associates found that 82% are. The off-line
American has gone from a disenfranchised minority to an endangered
species."From the article, "The Off-Line American" by
Lev Grossman
August
14, 2008 — money.co.uk: The Money Comparison Experts
"According to Parks Associates, the market could
rise from its current level of Ł500 million a year to hit a high of Ł3
billion by 2013 - a six-fold increase. Increasing interest from
broadcasters and major film studios in the web is predicted by the firm
to be a "tipping point" for this new popularity.
The rise of internet video is distinct from the massive recent
popularity of free "viral video" sites such as YouTube and Dailymotion -
which offer content at a far lower quality than premium providers.
Another difference is that web TV is often screened directly to TV sets,
which the quality on offer from the free services makes impossible.
Kurt
Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates,
said: "Consumption of premium internet video content to date has been
low. Services have been available only on less-than-optimal screens -
PCs and portable multimedia players."
"But new connected products that link to premium internet video
services are emerging at a rapid pace, moving the internet video viewing
experience into the living room. This shift will help grow revenues
considerably."
Parks Associates conducted its research for the US market. "
From the article, "Internet TV 'To Increase in Popularity'"
by Jayne Davison
August
13, 2008 — CE Pro
"Consumers in the United States will spend more than $6 billion
on Internet video services by 2013, according to a study from Parks
Associates.""Internet Video: Direct-to-Consumer Services" says
direct-to-TV videos will account for 75 percent of the revenue.
"The study is attributing the growth to more people owning connected
gaming consoles, networked TVs and alternative video-on-demand settop
boxes."
"Consumption of premium Internet video content to date has been low,"
says Parks Associates VP and principal analyst Kurt
Scherf.
"Services have been available only on less-than-optimal screens - PCs
and portable multimedia players. But new connected products that link to
premium Internet video services are emerging at a rapid pace, moving the
Internet video viewing experience into the living room. "
From the article, "Consumers to Spend $6 Billion on Internet
Video Services by 2013" by Steve Crowe
August
12, 2008 — 2Wire Press Release
"From the beginning, it seems that 2Wire correctly anticipated
and timed the growth we are currently witnessing in the broadband
market," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with
Parks Associates. "The company continues to lead the market to this day,
with innovations in residential gateways, storage solutions, and
convergent video and digital entertainment offerings. By the end of this
year, 27 million households worldwide will have residential gateways,
growing to more than 70 million by the end of 2012. With its expanding
portfolio of products and services, 2Wire is very well positioned to
continue capitalizing on this growth."
From the press release, "2Wire Turns 10, Ships 20 Millionth
Intelligent Gateway"
August
8, 2008 — CE Pro
Home Networking penetration will grow nearly 50 percent by the
end of 2008, according to a new study from Parks Associates.
The study says home networking will reach 168 million households
worldwide by the end of 2008. Households with networking solutions for
broadband and file sharing totaled 114 million in 2006, according to
Parks Associates. The study says this growth will lay the foundation
for expansion of multimedia services internationally.
"Broadband growth pushed Europe ahead of North America in terms of
home network adoption," says Kurt
Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates.
"With the network in place, providers will tie in high-demand
entertainment services. By 2012, over one-third of networked nodes
worldwide will have entertainment or multimedia functionality, with
particularly strong growth in IPTV services."
Scherf
says European broadband providers are the leaders in deploying home
networking solutions that provide basic broadband-sharing features.
Parks Associates also says the sales of NAS devices will reach
13 million units by 2012, attributing the growth to the ever-growing
desire for digital content.
From the article, "Home Networking to Reach 168 Million
Households in 2008" by Steve Crowe
August
4, 2008 — MSNBC.com
"In the United States, between 1.5 million and nearly 2
million households have home theater PCs, out of 83 million households
owning at least one PC, according to Parks Associates, which
researches digital lifestyles. Parks defines a home theater PC household
as one with a computer running Microsoft Windows Media Center (a special
edition of the XP operating system, or included with Vista Premium and
Ultimate) that is connected to a TV and used for recording TV
programming."
From the article, "Home theater PCs provide front-row seats
Combine it with a high-definition TV and you've got your own cinema" by
Scott Taves
August 4, 2008 — Home Media
"Over the short-term, I don't expect much impact on
physical home media products," said Kurt
Scherf, VP and principle analyst with Parks Associates. "I
expect that the download-to-burn kiosks are going to be used more by
retailers as a way to phase out those bargain-DVD bins you typically see
near the Walgreen's check-out line. I'd expect that you'll see older
titles more on these kiosks than the latest Hollywood release. "It's
going to take some time for the studios and the kiosk companies to
experiment with the type of content they plan to make available through
the download-to-burn efforts." However, he added, that title count is
Polar Frog's biggest asset, comparing it to the 500 or so rental DVDs
available from Redbox, or the 7,000 to 10,000 DVDs on the shelves at
Blockbuster. "Once the studios get real data back on use, on how
revenues compare to the distribution costs that they're saving, etc., I
think you'll see more come on board, assuming the results are
favorable," he said."
From the article, "Polar Frog Ready to Burn CSS at Kiosks" by
Chris Tribbey
August
1, 2008 — Forbes.com
Two years ago, casual games were the talk of the town. Before
the Wii-fication of videogames, it was these easy to play, relatively
inexpensive downloadable PC games that even got grandmas hooked. The
boom, brought on by the success of developers like PopCap selling some
$80 million worth of games through Web portals, rocked headlines.
Everybody wanted in on the growing audience--and dollars--for casual
games.
But all of a sudden, the downloadable casual game gold rush appears
to be over.
"Even though the Web-based casual games industry hit an
estimated $1 billion in revenues in 2007, according to Parks
Associates, game developers are finding it increasingly difficult to
do business as more and more games flood the market. "
From the article, "Casual Gold Bust " by Mary Jane Irwin
August
1, 2008 — TechNewsWorld
"The market for solutions aimed at data backup and
safekeeping and content sharing will be growing robustly over the next
few years, write Parks Associates analysts
Jane Shields and Kurt
Scherf. There are many different types of storage options open to
buyers, and vendors have an opportunity for positioning brand names in
the consumers' minds."
From the article, "Expanding Consumers' Digital Closet Space"
by Jane Shields and Kurt Scherf
July 31, 2008 — MarketingVOX
For the last several months, Google has quietly been testing an
"AdSense for Games" platform, reports VentureBeat. Sources say the
technology enables advertisers to place video ads in games. In some
demos, a character from the game even introduces the ad with a preface
like, "And now, a word from our sponsor." And in addition to online
games, Google in-game ads can reportedly be added to console games,
disc-based games and mobile games.
"Parks Associates is even more optimistic, forecasting ad
spend of $2.1 billion in 2012."
But Massive may be the most zealous company of all. In 2006, it
suggested in-game advertising would hit $2 billion by 2010.
From the article, "Google Preps Joystick for In-Game Ad
Invasion"
July
30, 2008 — TMCnet.com
"Current file storage solutions are not equipped to handle
consumers' ever-growing libraries of digital photos, music, and video,"
said
Jane Shields, research analyst, Parks Associates, in a
statement. "Soon the average broadband household will need close to a
terabyte of storage for their media collections on PCs, portable
devices, and DVRs. However, the industry will need to pay attention to
additional features beyond storage capacity as these devices approach
the mass market."From the article, "Network-Attached Storage
Device Sales to Reach 13 Million by 2012" by Jayashree Adkoli
July
29, 2008 — TechNewsWorld
"Anything that can make casual photographers feel like they're
approaching art with their shots of kids and vacations is helpful,
John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates , told
TechNewsWorld. "Photography is one of the digital activities that is
really pervasive, along with music and video," he said. "It's something
that you see old and young, males and females taking part in. ... A very
broad demographic base engages in digital photography, and to that end
any tool that can give casual users some interim steps so that you don't
have to choose professional photography, I think that's smart."
From the article, "Adobe Flips Switch on Lightroom 2" by Renay San
Miguel
July
27, 2008 — NY TIMES
"Despite such momentum, utilities can't just change direction
the way many Internet companies do, cautions
Bill Ablondi, director of home systems at Parks Associates, a
market consultant based in Dallas.
Mr. Ablondi doubts regulators and utilities will rapidly adopt smart
grid technologies. "The technology is here, but I think we're looking at
more like a 10-year horizon," he says. "
From the article, "Finding and Fixing a Home's Power Hogs " by
MICHAEL FITZGERALD
July
25, 2008 — Forbes.com
"That's the tantalizing promise of the casual games industry,
which hit revenues of $1 billion in 2007, according to research firm
Parks Associates."
From the article, "Blowing Up Bloons" by Mary Jane Irwin
July
24, 2008 — Wallstreet Journal
Netflix Inc. and Vudu Inc. both use set-top boxes to stream
movies over the Internet to a subscribers' television, but the titles
are restricted to the companies' movie databases. This month, Netflix
and Microsoft Corp. inked a deal where owners of the Xbox 360 can use
the videogame console to stream movies and other programming from the
Internet to their TVs."Research still indicates that the idea of connecting a PC to
the TV seems a daunting and cumbersome task for most consumers.
According to a 2007 study of 2000 U.S. homes conducted by Parks
Associates, a market researcher, just 2.5% had a PC connected to a
TV in the living room."
That's one of the reasons television manufacturers are making the
sets themselves Internet accessible. Companies such as Panasonic Corp.
of North America, Sony Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. in recent months
have added Web content to their Internet-connected TVs. Panasonic
launched a series of flat-panel TVs in May that can access YouTube.
Since the start of the year, Sony has added YouTube and CBS to its list
of Internet offerings for TV owners.
From the article, "Feeding Your TV With Video From the Computer or
Web" by CHRISTOPHER LAWTON
July
21, 2008 — San Jose Mercury News
Already, women comprise more than half the players of the
"casual" card and puzzle-type games available online for PCs. Many of
those games are free for a limited amount of time, but typically cost
$20 or so if users want to keep on playing them. Among those players who
end up purchasing online casual games, almost three-quarters are women.
But women aren't just playing solitaire or "Diner Dash" on their
computers.
"About 52 percent of the active users of Nintendo's Wii are women,
according to Parks Associates."
And more women may soon be coming to gaming. According to Nintendo,
just 28 percent of the owners of its DS handheld system are women. But
48 percent of women of all ages in this country either own one - or have
requested one as a gift, the company says.
From the blog posting, "Gaming isn't just a boys club now" by
Troy Wolverton
July 21, 2008 — THOMSON Press Release
Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS), the worldwide leader in
video solutions, has announced shipments of BT Home Hub wireless
gateways have passed the three million mark in fewer than two years
since the devices were deployed by BT in the United Kingdom. This
milestone also underscores the remarkable success of the service, with a
rapid increase in subscribers opting for the higher value broadband
packages in which the BT Home Hub was included.
"Illustrating the growth potential of the residential gateway
market, recent projections by industry analysts Parks Associates,
estimate that by year-end 2012, 40 million European homes will have
residential gateway solutions."
From the press release, "BT Home Hub Passes the Three Million
Shipment Mark"
July
17, 2008 — AT&T Press Release
Starting today, gamers searching for their own personal universe
need not wait any longer as the intergalactic Spore™ Origins from
Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS: Electronic Arts Inc T 31.70, -0.05, -0.2%)
today announced that its gaming organization has reached an agreement
with EA and EA Mobile to bring exclusive Spore game content to AT&T
wireless customers and to AT&T High Speed Internet customers.
"According to Parks Associates, roughly 150 million people are
playing connected games -- 41 million of which play on wireless devices
-- making them a key growth driver for both the gaming industry and for
AT&T. "
From the press release, "AT&T and EA Bring Spore to a New Universe
Of Gamers: New Agreement to Deliver Exclusive Gaming Content to AT&T
Customers, Premiering First on Mobile Devices"
July
16, 2008 — CEPro
The market for universal remote controls will have a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 10 percent between now and 2013, says
a Parks Associates study.
"Increasing options for content, the heavy buying of expensive flat
TVs, and rational prices for the mid-level remote have all played to
increase consumers' willingness to purchase and desire for the more
capable control benefits," says Parks Associates CEO
Tricia Parks.
“U.S. households are spending more on their entertainment equipment
as well as on content options than in the past,” adds
Parks.
“So, spending some hundreds of dollars on a URC that allows easier
use and management of their home theater systems makes more sense to
them than in the past.
"There is a middle market for advanced universal remotes now emerging
that will continue to see growth for at least the next 5-7 years.”
From the article, "Universal Remote Control Market to Grow 10% to
2013, Study Says" by Steve Crowe
July 11, 2008 — RadioandMusic.com
"A Parks Associates survey has found that a majority of US and
Canadian citizens use the PC and Television to listen to music."
"In a new report by Digital Media Habits II, MP3 players ranked equal
to TVs, with one-third of households using these platforms for music.
Digital Media Habits II is a study of media trends in the US and Canada.
"
"Parks Associates Director of Research
John Barrett said, "iPods are sexy, but not everybody has one. TVs
are ubiquitous and increasingly capable of delivering a range of
content, especially with new features like digital music delivery and
place-shifting services. This is just the tip of the iceberg for TV
applications."
"According to the report, Parks Associates analysts recommend
that developers and service providers account for these standard
platforms while designing new digital entertainment services."
From the article, "PC, TV are new platforms for music in US, says
survey"
July 11, 2008 — CIO Today
"Michael Cai,
a video-game analyst at Parks Associates, said the price cut
could lead to a summer sales boost. Microsoft, he said, needed to
stimulate gamer interest in the console, and now is the right time for a
price cut. ""GTA IV didn't help much and there isn't a killer game on
the horizon -- no pun intended,"
Cai quipped. Parks Associates' study of 2,000 U.S. Internet
gamers, Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home II, reports that consumers
interested in buying a console are more interested in Nintendo's Wii and
Sony's PlayStation 3 than the Xbox 360. Among those who intend to
purchase a console, 38 percent ranked Wii as their No. 1 choice,
followed by PS3 at 31 percent, and Xbox 360 at 19 percent.
From the article, "Microsoft Likely To Cut $50 Off U.S. Price of
Xbox 360" by Jennifer LeClaire
July 10, 2008 — Market News Gadget Talk
"I'm not surprised at the results of a new Parks Associates
survey that discovered that one-third of U.S. and Canadian broadband
households use their TVs to listen to music."
"iPods are sexy, but not everybody has one," explained
John Barrett, Director of Research at Parks Associates. "TVs
are ubiquitous and increasingly capable of delivering a range of
content, especially with new features like digital music delivery and
place-shifting services. This is just the tip of the iceberg for TV
applications." "
From the blog, "People Using TVs to Listen to Music" by
Christine Persaud
July 10, 2008 —
Business of Cinema.com
In a new survey by Parks Associates, roughly two-thirds
of U.S. and Canadian broadband households reported regular use of a PC
to play music while at home, and one-third said they use a television to
listen to music. MP3 players ranked equal to TVs, with one-third of
households using these platforms for music, in the new report titled
Digital Media Habits II.
"iPods are sexy, but not everybody has one," said Parks Associates
director of research John Barrett. "TVs are ubiquitous and increasingly
capable of delivering a range of content, especially with new features
like digital music delivery and place-shifting services. This is just
the tip of the iceberg for TV applications."
In the report, Parks Associates analysts recommend that
developers and service providers account for these standard platforms
when designing new digital entertainment services.
Parks Associates will discuss next-generation video services
at the Connections Europe Summit, taking place 29 August, in Berlin,
Germany. The Summit will feature panel discussions on "The Evolution of
Video Devices" and "Visual Networking and TV 2.0," among other topics.
Sponsors include Cisco Systems, Enure Networks, F-Secure Corporation,
MoCA, support.com, WirelessHD and Zilog.
From the article, "Consumers listening to music more and more on
TVs: Survey"
July 10, 2008 —
TMCnet
A Los Angeles-based electronics integration company today is
unveiling a cable-free way to connect a high-definition television
anywhere a consumer wants.A study last year by Parks Associates
showed that while about half of respondents wanted to mount their
flat-panel TVs, just 28 managed the feat.
From the article, "Belkin's FlyWire Allows HDTV Placement Anywhere
in Home" by Michael Dinan
July 10, 2008 — Belkin Press Release
"In a 2007 study by Parks Associates, researchers found
that 49% of respondents wanted to mount their flat-panel TVs; however,
only 28% were successful in doing so."From the press release, "New
Belkin FlyWire™ Delivers HD Video and Audio Wirelessly to Any HDTV,
Anywhere in Your Home"
July 7, 2008 — CableTechTalk
"This correlates nicely with the a Parks Associates Study
last year that found very few people refused to get connected due to
cost considerations."From the
article, "Despite Good News About Broadband Adoption, Vint Cerf
Calls for Nationalization (sort of, maybe, a little bit)"
July
6, 2008 — HiddenWires
"The Super Buyers enjoy using these devices and see them as an
extension of their identity," said John Barrett, director, research,
Parks Associates. "They aren't much wealthier than other broadband
households, but they perceive CE costs and benefits differently than the
other 75% of broadband households."
Parks Associates has summarized its findings in the white
paper "Super Buyers," available as a free download on its website. The
Super Buyers divide almost evenly between men and women, and 50% earn
less than $75,000 per year. Attitudinally, Super Buyers like CE
products, look forward to purchasing devices as soon as they are
available, and are more likely than the average broadband household to
personalize their devices.
From the article, "Parks Associates Identifies "Super Buying"
Segment of U.S. Consumers Responsible for 80% of CE Purchases"
July
2, 2008 — Mobile Excellence Awards Press Release
Industry supporters including Mobile Marketer, Digital
Hollywood, Interactive Television Alliance, Parks Associates,
NXTCom and others will be participating in the fall event. Mobile
entertainment and new media community leaders will be in attendance for
a reception and program to celebrate the nominees' work and honor the
winners.
From the press release, "Mobile Monday Launches Annual
Mobile Excellence Awards To Honor Outstanding Achievements & Leadership
in Mobile Entertainment"
July
1, 2008 — Hollywood Industry
Consumer demand for interactivity in entertainment and control
at home is driving adoption in technology products and services,
according to Parks Associates, which forecasts over 400 million
households worldwide will have digital television services by 2012.
Kurt
Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst, highlighted key
developments in advanced television services and discussed future areas
of focus, including bandwidth issues and the "interactive experience"
enabled by VoD, widgets, and advertising. Currently the lack of easy,
high-quality connections between VoD services and the TV is a key
inhibitor to the growth of the broadband VoD market. Parks Associates
expects to see an increase in products and services aimed at connecting
content to platforms in 2008 and beyond.
From the article, "Interactivity, Competitive Business Models, and
Value-Added Services Driving Expansion of the Digital Lifestyle"
July
1, 2008 — Tech News World
"Only 7 percent of Internet gamers ages 13 and older visit a
virtual world on a weekly basis, compared with 37 percent who visit
social networking sites and 41 percent who watch short videos online
with the same frequency, according to a recent Parks Associates
survey."From the
article, "Virtual Worlds: And the Children Shall Lead" by Michael
Cai
June
27, 2008 — Advertising Age
"What they're trying to do to differentiate from Wii and Xbox
requires collaboration across Sony [properties and content]," said Michael
Cai, an analyst with Parks Associates. "That's not easy and
it takes time. Maybe finally all the pieces are coming together." From the
article, "At Last, PlayStation 3 Outdoes XBox in Unit Sales" by
Beth Snyder Bulik
June
26, 2008 — Press Democrat
The U.S. market for home automation systems is expected to grow
from $3.5 billion in 2007 to $6 billion by 2012, according to Parks
Associates, a Texas-based consulting firm that focuses on home
networking.From the article, "The connected home" by
STEVE HART
June
25, 2008 — TMCnet
"'GPS technology is ready to shine,' said
Harry Wang, senior analyst with Parks Associates. "“Device
makers, application developers, and operators are looking beyond the
basic GPS routing function to innovative, location-based content and
services. The next few years will see a steady flow of value-added
content and services coming to market, and business model development
will be the key challenge for vendors to figure out,” explained
Wang.
From the
article, "Research and Markets: GPS Taking Over the Mobile Device
Market" by Michelle Robart
June
24, 2008 — Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) Press Rlease
"Kurt
Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks
Associates, added: 'The deployment of home gateways is accelerating
hand-in-hand with the rollout of triple play services. Service providers
can benefit from the deployment of managed, QoS-enabled home gateways as
value-added differentiators, for remote diagnostics and troubleshooting
applications, and to dynamically provision new value-added services as
customers see the need.' " From the
press release, "HOME GATEWAY DEPLOYMENT TO HIT 30 MILLION BY 2009"
June
23, 2008 — San Francisco Chronicle
"But analyst Kurt
Scherf of Parks Associates questioned whether implementing
these moves, especially in an era when telecommuting is being
encouraged, might do more harm than good in the long run for Internet
providers.""It doesn't seem like a friendly approach the industry is
taking right now,"
Scherf
said. "The risk of inducing long-term discontent over what I view as a
short-term situation is not worth it."
From the
article, "Online bandwidth hogs to be cut off at trough?" by Ryan
Kim
June
22, 2008 — San Diego Union Tribune
"At Dallas-based market research firm Parks Associates,
which has its own forecast of consumer electronics sales, principal
analyst Kurt
Scherf isn't surprised by the conflicting survey results.""Scherf's
survey suggests that a different group of electronics will hold up well
in the slow economy. While the CEA expects HDTVs, video game consoles
and GPS devices to do well,
Scherf sees those products as vulnerable to consumer cutbacks. He
sees MP3 players, home theaters and digital cameras as
recession-resistant."
From the
article, "Consumers keep shopping for gadgets despite tough
economic times, but will it last?" by Jonathan Sidener
June
17, 2008 — Fox Business
"In a Parks Associates survey of home Internet users,
Bell was ranked among the top five Canadian ISPs offering security
protection. The ranking, which is based on customer service, as well as
the ability to communicate new security threats and recommend actions to
resolve these threats, was included in the recent research report, North
American Broadband Market Update 2008."From the
article, "Radialpoint Renews Key Contracts With Top Internet
Service Providers"
June
11, 2008 — TWICE
"By 2012, smartphones, cellular phones, PDAs and portable media
players (PMPs) combined will overtake PNDs in GPS sales, according to
Parks Associates. Currently there are 3 to 4 million regular users
of GPS via smartphones, cellular phones, PDAs and (PMPs) in North
America but these will surpass the 28 million mark by 2012, overtaking
PND annual sales at that time, said senior analyst
Harry Wang."From the
article, "iPhone 3G Adds Potential To Compete With PNDs" by Amy
Gilroy
June
6, 2008 — BusinessWeek
"That depends in part on how large a purchase households
want to make, says
John Barrett, director of research at market research firm Parks
Associates. Consumers are holding off on certain big-ticket items
such as computers and flat-screen televisions, but may be more inclined
to buy Dad lower-priced items, he says. 'There are certain kinds of
products that are gift products,'
Barrett says. 'GPS devices are one, because price points are low
enough that you could easily go get one.' "From the
article, "Economic Woe May Rain on Dad's Big Day" by Albert Sun
June 5, 2008 — Market News
"Interestingly, and despite what many believe, however, Parks
finds that dedicated, portable GPS units will remain the preferred
choice of navigation over the next three years."
“GPS will come to your mobile handsets as a standard feature, but
mobile carriers are still a couple of years away from turning GPS into a
money-making, mass-market feature,” explained
Harry Wang, Senior Analyst at Parks Associates."
From the
article, "GPS on a Continual Rise" by Christine Persaud
June 5, 2008 — ADWEEK
"In-game advertising is in a fledgling stage, generating $54
million in sales in 2006, per Parks Associates, Dallas, but could
grow to $800 million by 2012. "
From the
article, "In-Game Ads Head to PlayStation 3" by Matthew Fields,
Brandweek
June 5, 2008 — Marketing Daily
"A Parks Associates study, "Super Buyers: The Key
Broadband Segment Buying CE Products," released this week reveals that
87% of the 2,500 consumers with broadband Internet access who responded
to the survey had purchased one consumer electronics product within the
past 12 months; nearly 67% had purchased two or more.
"A small minority makes up the bulk of the purchases," says
John Barrett, research director at Parks Associates. "Many of them
are not uber-rich, even if they spend like they are."
"These buyers are part of a community who share information about
gadgets,"
Barrett says. "It's a form of viral marketing, but different than
posts on MySpace because they are focused on finding information
consumer electronics." "
From the
article, "'Super Buyers' Play Critical Role In Adoption Of New
'Toys' " by Laurie Sullivan
June
4, 2008 — Forbes.com
"In-game advertising is still in its early stages, generating a
modest $54 million in sales in 2006, however, technology research firm
Parks Associates estimates it could grow to an $800 million
market by 2012."
"Right now, businesses looking to place ads across different game
platforms are stuck talking to multiple ad agencies, says Parks
Associates analyst
Michael Cai. If you want to place an ad in an Xbox 360 game, you
have to deal exclusively with Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people
)-owned Massive. To get into a PlayStation 3 game, you deal with Sony. A
handful of independent agencies, including IGA and Double Fusion, have
sprung up to handle ads in PC games and for specific game publishers.
Sony opening up its platform "is going to make [IGA and Double Fusion's]
portfolios more attractive to advertisers" because it decreases market
fragmentation,
Cai predicts."
From the
article, "Sony Set To Open Up To In-Game Advertisers" by Mary Jane
Irwin
June 4, 2008 — Virtual Worlds News
"Michael
Cai of Parks Associates published some results of a recent
survey of Internet gamers ages 13 and older about online habits,
including virtual worlds. "
From the
article, "Parks Associates: Only 7% of Teen-and-Up Internet Gamers
Visit Virtual Worlds Weekly"
June
3, 2008 — The Wall Street Journal
"Kurt
Scherf, an analyst with Parks Associates, a market-research
firm, says that one of its surveys of U.S. households with Internet
connections found that 35% of the 1,090 households where members
originally planned to buy a high-definition TV set this year would be
delaying the purchase, with the economy getting the blame. That's one
reason Sony Corp. recently said it would introduce more "entry-level" TV
sets this year that cost between $500 and $1,200 -- that's about $200
less than Sony's premium line of TV sets. And Samsung just cut the
prices on part of a new line of flat panels by $200."
"Retailers are also pushing the price down on Blu-ray DVD players,
which sell for $550 on average, according to Parks Associates."
"Mr.
Scherf of Parks says Father's Day will be another test of
consumers' threshold for electronics prices, but he adds that analysts
and industry executives will be watching what happens later in the fall
as the holidays approach. "If gas prices remain the way they are and the
economy continues to sputter along, I would be very worried come October
or November," he says. "
From the
article, "Gadgets Priced For Frugal Times" by Christopher Lawton
May
27, 2008 — Los Angeles Times
""In the last stages of Adelphia's existence, they were bleeding
money," said analyst
Kurt Scherf at Parks Associates, a consulting and research
firm. "They were putting very little into infrastructure upgrades.""
From the
article, "Area HDTV owners with cable service have limited choices"
by Alana Semuels
May
23, 2008 — CE Pro
"Roughly 25 percent of households spent $2,000 or more on CE
products in the past year, accounting for 80 percent of all CE
purchases, new Parks Associates research says."
""The Super Buyers enjoy using these devices and see them as an
extension of their identity," says Parks Associates director of
research
John Barrett."
From the
article, "Parks Associates Identifies “Super Buying” Group" by
Steve Crowe
May
22, 2008 — Biz Report
"Email and Internet access are both important in the daily lives
of many of us, but a new report from Parks Associates reveals
that many U.S. citizens don’t even have Internet access."
"The Parks Associates data revealed that age and education
play a big part in whether the Internet is a part of an individual’s
daily life. Half of those that have never used email are over the age of
65 and 56% had no education beyond high school."
“Internet connections have slowly increased in U.S. households, but
getting the disconnected minority online will continue to be difficult,”
said
John Barrett, director research at Park Associates. “Age and
economics are important factors, but the heart of the challenge is
deeper. Many people just don’t see a reason to use computers and do not
associate technology with the needs and demands of their daily lives.”
From the
article, "Almost one-fifth of U.S. population disconnected" by
Helen Leggatt
May
19, 2008 — BUSINESSWEEK
"One fifth of Americans have never used e-mail, according to a
recent survey by consultancy Parks Associates. Of 1,088 people
surveyed, 21% have never done a search on the Internet or looked up a
Web site. This is startling — and troubling. "
From the
article, "One Fifth of Americans Have Never Used E-Mail" by Olga
Kharif
May
18, 2008 — Mashable Social Networking News
"In a similar vein, Steven Musil of CNET points out a study
conducted by Parks Associates that found that 30% of people have
never written or sent an email. Mind you, Parks discloses that over half
of these people polled were over the age of 65, and of those, 56% had no
formal education, which speaks more to the digital age divide than
anything else. "
From the
article, "Pew Internet Finds Web Has Little Effect On Purchasing"
by Sean P. Aune
May
15, 2008 — CNN.com
"Think about the how much more responsive the content
offerings can be if an obscure movie, for example, becomes really
popular -- like the 'Napoleon Dynamite' phenomenon from a few years ago,
notes Kurt Scherf,
principal analyst at Parks Associates."
From the
article, "Can the USB go from computer dork to Hollywood player?" by
Steve Mollman
May
14, 2008 — DallasNews.com Technology Blog (Dallas Morning News)
"On the other hand, Dallas-based Parks Associates
reports that 20 million U.S. households -- or about 18 percent -- have
no Internet access at home."
"Parks does note that the percentage of households without
Internet access has dropped from 29 percent at the end of 2006, so the
Internet curmudgeons are slowly venturing online, while the federal
report says the percentage of cell-only users is climbing."
From the blog, "Some households using cell phones only, others
have never connected to the Internet" by Victor Godinez
May 7, 2008 — Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. Press Release
"According to a recent Parks Associates study, the
custom installation market is expected to grow to 226,000 installations
by 2012 - an increase of 60% within five years - with more than $23,000
spent on average per installation."
From the press release,
"Pioneer Broadens 2008 Elite KURO Line of Displays with New Signature
Series of Monitors"
May 6, 2008 — HealthImaging.com
"Yet, vendors can overcome payor resistance by providing
verifiable trial results and further education regarding the benefits of
home health monitoring technologies, according to a new study by
Parks Associates."
“With U.S. market potential of $2.5 billion in device and service
revenues by 2012, the home health monitoring industry has every
incentive to convince private insurers, along with other potential
payers, of the technology’s value and feasibility,” said
Harry Wang, senior analyst at Parks Associates, a market
research firm. The study outlines ten recommendations for vendors to
strengthen home health monitoring technologies’ visibility and value
proposition, including providing independently verifiable trial results,
gaining recognition from the medical community, and presenting a
practical plan that will prevent over-utilization of the technology.
“While meeting private payors’ requirements—like providing a
drilled-down explanation about the operational details on how the
technology is used by consumers and caregivers—is important, the
technology industry must also rally support from consumers, caregivers
and employers—many self-insured—to influence private insurers’
perception and the technology review process,” said
Wang, who believes efforts from industry organizations like Continua
Health Alliance, American Telemedicine Association, the Patient-Centered
Primary Care Collaborative and Technology CEO Council, are significant
starts."
From the article, "Home health monitoring adoption to rise,
despite payor resistance"
May
5, 2008 — BusinessWeek
"Marketing can be expensive: According to a 2007 estimate
by Parks Associates, companies spent $15 million advertising in
virtual worlds in the U.S. in 2006 and the figure is expected to rise
tenfold by 2012."From the article, "The [Virtual] Global Office"
by Rachael King
May 5, 2008 — Telegraph-Journal, Canada
"Kurt
Scherf, vice-president of Parks Associates, a Dallas-based IT
market research firm, says while many telecommunications firms are
offering remote troubleshooting support, no one providing the breadth of
support services Bell Aliant is delivering.""The closest thing to it
is what British Telecom has been doing for a year-and-a-half now with a
service the call Home IT Advisor," he says. "Part of it is the remote IT
support, either by phone or by web chat, they also do have a service
that they will send a technician to the home, but my understanding is
the scope is limited to more of the broadband or home computing
aspects."
"Scherf
estimated the U.S. market for digital home support service, which can
include everything from remote technical support to in-home computer
set-up as well as troubleshooting and assistance in setting up consumer
electronics such as televisions and digital cameras, could grow to a
US$2 billion industry over the next five years. "
From the article, "Consumers Saving Rebate Checks" by DAVID
SHIPLEY
May
1, 2008 — TV Week
"With the impending digital transition, the consumer shift
to on-demand viewing, high definition, Internet video and other
disruptions, now is the time for a true [TV] alternative to emerge,”
Parks Associates vice president and principal analyst Kurt Scherf
said in a release. “From what I’ve seen, Sezmi’s differentiated
approach, leadership and industry relationships makes it a strong
contender to fill this void."
From the article, "Sezmi Tests Next-Gen Set-Top Box " by
Sergio Ibarra
May
1, 2008 — NY TIMES
"In a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. households by Parks
Associates, a Dallas, Tex.-based consulting firm, only 40 percent
said they're planning to spend the rebate checks on consumer
electronics. Forty-two percent said they expected to hang on to their
checks, citing economic uncertainties. "
From the article, "Consumers Saving Rebate Checks" by Laura
Palotie, Inc.com
May
1, 2008 — MercuryNews.com
"It's a tough nut to crack, for sure," said
Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks
Associates, a Dallas market research and consulting firm."
From the article, "Start-up Sezmi provides new way to deliver TV
content" by Troy Wolverton
May
1, 2008 — LA TIMES
Some analysts caution against reading too much into the NPD
figures, pointing out that the first quarter usually is not a crucial
selling period for consumer electronics.
"It's too early to tell," said
Kurt Scherf, an analyst with technology research firm Parks
Associates. "I expect that it will be third and fourth quarter
during the holiday season when [there is] aggressive promotion and
bundling of players with HDTVs that those numbers will come up."
From the article, "Blu-ray gets no victory parade " by Alex Pham
and Dawn C. Chmielewski
May
1, 2008 — TVpredictions.com
According to its research, Parks says 40 percent of
consumers will use the tax rebate to buy consumer electronics products
with high-def sets high on the wish list.
But Parks cautions that if the economy slumps further, many
consumers may opt to buy less expensive items or simply save the rebate
check.
Forty-two percent of respondents in the Parks survey said
economic concerns will be a factor in their decision not to purchase CE
products this year.
"Purchase intentions for HDTVs and PCs are high -- both overall and
specifically with the tax rebate -- but these purchases will be
sacrificed first if the economy sours further," Parks said. "Less
likely to be cut are purchases of mobile and personal electronics, such
as game consoles, GPS, and portable media players."
From the article, "Study: U.S. Tax Rebate Could Boost HDTV Sales "
by Swanni
April 29, 2008 — PR Web Press Release
"According to a Parks Associates report, 34% of U.S. Internet
households play online games on a weekly basis, compared with 29% who
watch short online videos and 19% who visit social networking sites with
the same frequency. "
From the press release, "Need Gas, Play
a Game at WinGasCard.com"
April 29, 2008 — MarketWire Press Release
"More than one-third, or 34 percent of Internet users in the
U.S. play games on the Internet at least once per week, according to
Parks Associates, a research & analysis firm. "From the press
release, "March of Dimes Georgia Launches Online Game for Charity
Tournament"
April 25, 2008 — Exchange Morning Post
"Some 55 percent of households in the United States now boast a
broadband connection, according to Parks Associates, allowing for
rich media, video, and audio to dominate the Internet.""New
Internet-friendly cell phones such as the iPhone and G-Phone [phones
built on Google's upcoming Android operating system] will lower the
entry barrier for mobile Internet services, improve mobile Internet
experiences, and introduce new business models," says Kurt Scherf,
vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates. "
"The mobile phone is likely to trump the Internet as the most
versatile media platform,"
Scherf
adds. "The potential of mobile advertising to become an explosively new
ad platform is real and colossal."
From the article, "The 10 Most Disruptive Technology
Combinations," by Dan Tynan
April 23, 2008 — Consumer Electronics Net Press Release
"A 2007 study by Parks Associates found that nearly half
of all social networkers regularly use more than one site, while one in
six use three or more. "From the press release, "Send
Any Image to Multiple Websites & Upload to Social Networks, Photo
Communities, Personal Blogs, Emails & More."
April 21, 2008 — IPTV Watch
"Europe accounts for almost 60% of the worldwide growth in IPTV,
which rose to 14 million households in 2007 from 4.7 million users in
2006. The figures have been produced following new research by Parks
Associates, a market research and consulting firm focused on all
product and service segments that are digital or provide connectivity
within the home. "From the article, "Sony to launch online
video service for PlayStation 3," by Dawn C. Chmielewski and Alex
Pham
April
21, 2008 — LA TIMES
"They've got to get a win in the digital, and I'd say on the
electronic delivery side of the business," said
Kurt Scherf, an analyst with Parks Associates who studies
technology in the home. "That's where the future is. They've got to
establish a toehold in that space."
"Nonetheless, market researcher Parks Associates projects that
Internet video will grow more lucrative, reaping about $6.4 billion in
revenue by 2010 from advertising, as well as paid downloads or rentals."
From the article, "Sony to launch online video service for
PlayStation 3," by Dawn C. Chmielewski and Alex Pham
April 17, 2008 — Reuters
"If Blockbuster spends the bulk of its time trying to execute on
this big, high-profile plan that really isn't mapped to where the market
is going, that only helps players like Netflix who are looking forward,"
said
John Barrett, director of research for Parks Associates.
Barrett and others note both companies face the threat of more
competition as the movie rental market heads towards digital
distribution in the next few years and players like Apple Inc and
Amazon.com Inc enter the sector. "
From the article, "Blockbuster's Circuit City bid deemed
Netflix boon," by Sue Zeidler
April
12, 2008 — Washington Post
"Kurt Scherf,
an analyst with Parks Associates, a market-research firm in
Dallas, said he expects some people will instead opt to buy a new
digital TV because prices have dropped in recent years. "
From the article, "Rabbit Ears Fears? Converters Clear
Picture.," by Kim Hart
April 12, 2008 — New Brunswick Business Journal
"According to Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market
research firm, the number of households subscribing to IPTV services
jumped from 4.7 million in 2006 to 14 million in the United States in
2007."
"Kurt Scherf,
vice-president of Parks Associates, says a number of firms are
working on ways to blend Internet content with traditional television
services using IPTV."
From the article, "Saint John IT firm unveiling
groundbreaking software," by David Shipley
April 6, 2008 — Virtual Goods Insider
"According to the Parks Associates study, 36% of
respondents participate in virtual worlds to play games and 21%
participate to create and manage an avatar. On average, only 19% of
virtual world participants are looking to escape real life. The
motivations of Second Life users are very different. The most popular
reason to participate in Second Life is to escape real life (cited by
50% of users) or to create an avatar (cited by 40% of users)." From the article, "Second
Life is the Industry Anomaly, Not the Standard," by Ravi Mehta
April 4, 2008 — NeoEdge Press Release
"According to a recent survey by Parks Associates, 34
percent of U.S. Internet users play online games every week -- more than
the number of people who visit social networks or online video-sharing
sites."
From the press release, "Ty Levine Takes Marketing Helm at
NeoEdge"
April
4, 2008 — Media Post Publications
"In fact, new research from Parks Associates found that
on average, almost 40% of virtual world participants said that their
primary reason for going in-world was to play games."
"'We don't believe that the initial levels of curiosity are
sustainable, and users aren't content to just be in a world and chat
with other people,' said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai,
director of gaming and broadband at Parks Associates. 'Developers
and advertisers need to organize those kinds of activities that can
engage and sustain interest. That's why we're glad to see more companies
with content joining the industry--like the deal that Paramount
announced to port movie clips into There.com.'
Cai spoke of Paramount Pictures' new partnership with Makena
Technologies' There.com that will allow residents to use clips from
famous movies like Clueless during conversation or to express emotions
in-world."
From the article, "Virtual World Users To Marketers: It's The
Activities, Stupid ," by Tameka Kee
April 4, 2008 — Mixed Realities Blog
"That feeling attracts people.
Michael Cai, director Broadband and Gaming at Parks Associates,
estimates that the coming 12 months 6 million to 8 million users will
try out a Virtual World and that 2 million to 3 million of those people
will become weekly active users."
From the blog, "Virtual Worlds: so young and tender," by
Roland Legrand
April 3, 2008 — CE Pro
"Parks Associates study reveals what consumers value and
what they think are commodities." "'The Changing Consumer
Electronics Purchase Process' (PDF link) by Parks Associates
offers three very insightful pieces of data that might help you
determine where to concentrate your sales energy. "
From the article, "Remote Features, TV Prices Top Buying
Decisions," by Jason Knott
April 3, 2008 — Star-Telegram.com
"Americans watch lots of video on their computers. More than 12
million people paid for this kind of content last year, according to a
study by Parks Associates, a research and analyst firm that
studies how people use the Internet." "The result, says
Kurt Scherf, a principal analyst with Parks Associates, is
that Hulu has the kind of setup that allows users to stumble upon shows
that they might not have discovered otherwise."
From the article, "Welcome to Hulu vision: A new Web site
enables TV fans to watch their favorite shows past and present on one
'network'," by Erin White
April
3, 2008 — Newsweek
"Casual-gaming developers and Web sites, however, have yet to
fully capitalize on their increasingly dedicated fan base. The industry
is struggling to 'find better ways to monetize its audience,' writes
James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates." From the article, "Game
On: The number of casual videogamers is rising. If only the developers
could find a way to make more money out of them," by Jennifer Ordońez
April 3, 2008 — TV Week
"About 84% of recent buyers of flat-screen TVs, almost all of
which are HD-capable, said price was a major factor in their purchase
choice, while 53% said features were important and 36% focused on the
brand name, Dallas-based consultant Parks Associates said, citing
a survey of households with broadband Internet service."
“I expected brand name to pop out like it does for laptops, but it
doesn’t. Price does,” said Parks CEO
Tricia Parks. She added that the No. 2 flat-panel brand chosen in
the survey was Vizio, which is sold at big-box stores like Costco and
Sam’s Club. “Here’s a space where there are so many good brands, so when
you look at the TV, you may not see a difference.”
"While the projected softening in the U.S. economy may have little
effect on TV buyers who’ve already made price such an important part of
their decision, the impact on the still-nascent HD DVD player industry
may be more pronounced. Consumers are more likely to forgo paying $400
for an HD disc player than withholding the $1,000 or more needed for a
new television,
Ms. Parks said. With standard DVD player prices starting around $50,
“DVD is considered popcorn,” said
Ms. Parks, who estimated HD disc player unit sales in the U.S. at
about 1.25 million last year. “HD DVD is nowhere near that.”
From the article, "Price Matters Most to Flat-Screen Buyers,"
by Danny King
April
1, 2008 — Tech World News
"Parks Associates estimates that between 22 million and
25 million people were the appropriate target population of this
application in 2007. As demographic trends favor this application and
consumer awareness is on the rise, we expect the total addressable
market to continue expanding over the next five years, reaching between
44 million and 48 million people in 2012."
From the article, "Better Monitoring With Smart Medical
Devices," by Harry Wang
April
1, 2008 — Tech World News
"Whether movies will fly on mobile TV, however, remains an open
question, said
John Barrett, a Parks Associates analyst for mobile TV."
From the article, "Sony Pushes Old Movies to Cell Phone
Screens," by Jim Offner
March
31, 2008 — The Seattle Times
"Those devices "have the potential to dramatically increase
consumer awareness of the capabilities and convenience that control
systems can provide," according to a 2007 report from Parks
Associates, a Dallas research company. Parks expects
home-control sales will reach $6 billion in 2012, up from $3.8 billion
in 2008. Other components of the automated home are falling in place,
the report said: Among U.S. homes, 42 percent now have programmable
thermostats, 36 percent have home theaters and 10 percent have
lighting-control systems."From the article, "Get ready for home
automation," by Brier Dudley
March
28, 2008 — Tech News World
"This is great news for the Blu-ray market, Parks Associates
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Kurt Scherf told TechNewsWorld. It's also a crucial step because Blu-ray,
which beat Toshiba's HD DVD as the next-generation technology for
digital video, still has to find a mainstream market. "It's simple
economics," he said. "The more products with Blu-ray technology, the
higher the production volume will be and, ultimately, the lower the
costs to the consumer become."
"We've been told that, for Blu-ray to really get out of the gates after
the end of the format war, the overall pricing has to be [lowered],"
Scherf added. "If the drive manufacturers can get those volumes up,
that's a good sign that that is going to happen."From the article, "Dell
Gets Down to Basics With Low-Cost Blu-ray Laptop," by Jim Offner
March
25, 2008 — TMCnet
"Nobody wants to become an identity thief's catch of the day,"
said
Michael Cai, an analyst with Parks Associates and an
outspoken advocate of online fraud protection. "Yet in nearly a third of
all cases, online users open phishing e-mails luring them to fraudulent
sites seeking their banking or other personal information. To date, the
lack of consumer education and ineffective protection tools have been to
blame for the increase in online fraud threats."From the article, "Verizon
Targets Online Schemes, Sluggish Computers," by Tim Gray
March
24, 2008 — Mytopia Press Release
"'Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and
Facebook, online gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven
largely by online casual gaming activities,' said
James Kuai, a research
analyst at Parks Associates."
From the press release, "Mytopia Launch Lets Social Network,
Internet Users Get Their Casual Game On"
March
20, 2008 — CentreDaily.com
"The consumer electronics purchase process can be daunting to
the average consumer not because of an absence of information and
recommendations, but rather the overwhelming, unorganized, and often
contradictory advice that exists in retail channels, on the Internet and
via word-of-mouth," said
Kurt Scherf, vice
president and principal analyst with Parks Associates, an
internationally recognized consumer technology research firm. "Retrevo's
role in organizing and summarizing the key research, opinions and
comparisons of consumer electronics products will grow in importance as
consumers seek the best available information in making a purchasing
decision."
From the article, "Retrevo Secures $8 Million to Give
Consumers Control of Finding, Buying and Using Electronics"
March
19, 2008 — Where Do You Stand? From Standing Partnership
"Social networking is becoming the traditional
method of networking, and even if the survivors of the space will be
less than 10 (according to
Harry Wang, a senior analyst at Parks Associates), and even
if “advertising standards have not yet been set that could help
determine valuations,” I think the value to a potential buyer will be
based off of the benefits users find in the service; and for Facebook,
at least for the foreseeable future, the benefits are gargantuan."From the
blog, "The Monetary Value of Facebook," by Susan Iskiwitch
March
19, 2008 — SF Gate/San Francisco Chronicle
"Michael
Cai, an analyst with Parks Associates, said banks face plenty
of challenges in trying to become online storage providers. Consumers
are not used to storing their most important documents on the Internet,
he said, and may be concerned about security breaches. And, they may be
reluctant to pay to store digital copies of documents they've kept at
home. However, he said, banks are well suited to the task of changing
people's habits about document storage. "From the article, "Wells to offer virtual safe boxes," by
Ryan Kim
March
18, 2008 — Tech News World
"'The EU made it clear for a long time
that DVB-H was going to be the technology of choice in Europe,'
John Barrett, director of research for
Parks Associates
,
told TechNewsWorld."
From the article, "EU Endorses DVB-H as Mobile TV Standard of
Choice," by Jim Offner
March
18, 2008 — InsuranceNetworking.com
"With U.S. market potential of $2.5 billion in device and
service revenues by 2012, the home health monitoring industry has every
incentive to convince private insurers, along with other potential
payers, of the technology’s value and feasibility,” said
Harry Wang, senior analyst, Parks Associates."
“'While meeting private payers’ requirements, such as providing a
drilled-down explanation about the operational details on how the
technology is used by consumers and caregivers is important, the
technology industry must also rally support from consumers, caregivers
and employers—many self-insured—to influence private insurers’
perception and the technology review process,”
Wang said."
From the article, "Study: Insurers Want Better Home Health
Monitoring"
March
18, 2008 — NY Times
"Sitting and watching Dora DVDs is quite different from playing
Dora in a game,” said
Michael Cai, the director for broadband and gaming at Parks
Associates, whose 3-year-old daughter is a fan of the preschool
brand. “It’s definitely more engaging — and the brand affiliation is
stronger — in an interactive setting.”
From the article, "Online Games by the Hundreds, With Tie-Ins," by
Brian Stelter
March
18, 2008 — RCR Wireless News
"A Parks Associates study from October confirms the
delicate balance such sites must strike, indicating 72% of social
networking users would object to a monthly fee of just $2, and 40% would
stop using a site if it contained “too many” advertisements."
From the article, "Social networking: Valuations vs.
reality," by Colin Gibbs
March 17, 2008 — Z-Wave Alliance Press Release
"During the Summit, international wireless home control experts,
such as internationally recognized market research and consulting firm
Parks Associates, Z-Wave developer and chip manufacturer Zensys
and Z-Wave Alliance members, Danfoss, Horstmann, Linksys and Merten,
will discuss trends, market developments, the current and future fields
of application and trends/technologies for the future of home control.”
"Parks Associates forecasts that the number of worldwide
households with residential gateways facilitating broadband sharing,
remote management and service provisioning, and/or value-added services
will grow to 72 million by year-end 2012."
From the press release, "Z-Wave Alliance Hosts First Annual
European Wireless Home Control Summit"
March
17, 2008 — International Herald Tribune
"Sitting and watching 'Dora' DVDs is quite different from
playing Dora in a game," said Michael Cai, an analyst for Parks
Associates, whose 3-year-old daughter is a fan of the preschool brand.
"It's definitely more engaging - and the brand affiliation is stronger -
in an interactive setting."
From the article, "Online 'casual' games for kids offer media
firms new programming options," by Brian Stelter
March 14, 2008 — SiliconValley.com
"Bebo is "a good strategic fit" for AOL, but like Facebook and MySpace
still faces a challenge in optimizing its business into a vehicle for
advertising, said
Harry Wang, an analyst with Parks Associates. Social
networks, he said, are struggling to find "the right balance" to engage
members with advertising without alienating them." From the
article "AOL's Bebo buy gives social networks a boost," by Scott
Duke Harris
March 13, 2008 — Exent Press Release
"According to a recent study released by Parks Associates, online
casual gaming is more popular than online videos and social networking." From the press release "Exent
Technologies Expands Games-on-Demand Library with Casual Games from iWin."
March
13, 2008 — engadgetHD
"With a large and constantly-updated library of compelling
content and significant storage, the VUDU XL is ideally positioned as a
home theater complement," said
Kurt Scherf, vice
president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "VUDU's
recently-announced partners provide it with a solid entry point into the
custom installation business, where media servers and enhanced
audio-video components are a great complement to the higher-end
entertainment systems currently being installed."
From the article, "VUDU teams up with home automotion /
control partners," by Darren Murph
March
11, 2008 — Mac News World
""This is an idea that has been kicked around for a while,"
John Barrett, director of research with Parks Associates ,
told MacNewsWorld.
In general, many more people have the ability to watch video on
mobile devices than actually use it,
Barrett noted, and "part of reason is the content that's available."
It's a "tough sell" convincing people to buy an iTunes version of a
movie rather than get the DVD and be able to watch it on their TV at
home. "People are afraid of being tied to the platform," he said. In
that sense, "it's a good idea to try things like this, because consumers
kind of get best of both worlds, and don't feel like they're losing out
if they buy a movie for their iPod."
There are still some other challenges facing mobile video,
Barrett added. For instance: "You've got to have a lot of patience
to watch a 2-hour movie on a 2-inch screen." Nevertheless, there are
situations where consumers will find the ability useful, such as while
traveling, he noted.
"I think what you'll find is that this won't push many people over
the top in deciding whether to buy a particular DVD or not, but it will
certainly be an appealing option for someone who likes the movie anyway
and has an iPod,"
Barrett concluded. "People may be hesitant to pay money for content
given that small screen, but if they're getting it bundled with
something else, they might give it a try and decide they like it."
From the article, "Lionsgate Bundles iTunes Versions With DVDs," by
Katherine Noyes
March
11, 2008 — Tekrati Industry Analyst Reporter
"Parks Associates announced two expert
market-research presentations featuring CEO
Tricia Parks at the upcoming Connected Home Conference, to be held
March 14, 2008, in Olympia, England. Parks Associates is a key
supporter of the IPTV World Forum and the Connected Home Conference.
Schedule meetings with the analysts.""Tricia
Parks, CEO of Parks Associates, will present in the session
“Trends and Opportunities in the Connected Home Market” on March 14,
9h40-10h00. In addition, she will moderate the panel “Generating
revenue: From the perspective of the telecom operator,” 12h30-13h10 on
the same day."
"Recent research from Parks Associates indicates the number of
households worldwide with a residential gateway that can facilitate
broadband sharing, remote management and service provisioning, or
value-added services will grow from 17 million in 2007 to approximately
72 million by year-end 2012."
“The service options for homes around the world are expanding,
and this growth in the connected home market creates opportunities
across many different industries,” Ms.
Parks said. “Parks Associates has been studying this market
for many years, and we are optimistic about its current potential,
provided the companies in this space are attentive to changes in the
consumers’ needs and wants.”
From the article, "Parks Associates to address U.K. Connected Home
Conference"
March
11, 2008 — Gamasutra
"At Austin's SXSW event, Kongregate's Jim Greer, Foundation 9's
Jane Pinckard, PlayFirst's John Welch and
Michael Cai of Parks Associates discussed drawing more women
into the casual space, in a panel moderated by Scale Venture Partners'
Sharon Wienbar.Our focus groups and surveys show that most women tend
to play just to unwind," said
Cai, whose company, Parks Associates, conducts this type of
research often. "They often say they want to feel less stress, not more.
On the other hand, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are bringing
so many new players into console gaming. And, yes, females seem to be
less interested in competing against others."
From the article, "SXSW: Panel Talks
The Female Takedown of Casual Gaming," by
Jessica Maguire
March
10, 2008 — Tech News World
"VooZoo will like not cause someone without a Facebook profile
to join the social networking site, but it could be sticky enough to
keep current members on the site longer and could lead to other movie
studios, such as Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, to make their clips
available as well, said
John Barrett, research director at Parks Associates."
"It sounds like a fun application to me. I suspect that if it gets
significant traction, other providers will try to provide a similar
service. You'll see other studios offer their clips. It helps refresh
the content a little bit," he added. Despite the fun factor,
Barrett does not see VooZoo driving DVD sales or users to sites
offering full-length versions of the movie online. "
From the article, "Paramount Rolls Clips on Facebook," by
Walaika Haskins
March
10, 2008 — engadgetHD
"All jesting aside, a recent report put forth by Parks
Associates suggests that around 33 million US households will have
10Mbps+ broadband by 2012, essentially enabling an equal amount of homes
to easily stream high-definition video."
From the article, "33 million US homes
could stream HD media in 2012," by Darren Murph
March 9, 2008 — joystiq
"Parks Associates' Michael Cai began with some
charts. According to the data, female gamers heavily prefer computers to
consoles: female gamers spend an average of 70% of their gaming time on
computers, versus male gamers' 56%. Female gamers make up 62% of the
casual game audience, and this group, especially those age 13-17, play
more sessions per month. There is less diversity among genres for female
gamers as well: across age groups, puzzle and card games are the most
popular casual games."
From the article, "SXSW08: The Female Takedown
of Casual Gaming," by JC Fletcher
March
7, 2008 — TVPredictions.com
"Parks Associates
says only nine percent of Broadband households have services that
provide speeds of 10 MBps or higher, enabling uninterrupted high-def
video streaming."
"Parks
does estimate that the number of households capable of receiving HD
streaming will rise to 33 million by 2012. The research firm said
consumers will demand faster lines for a variety of services.
From the article, "Study: Only 5.7M Homes Ready for HD
Broadband Video," by Phillip Swann
March 7, 2008 — Digital Media Press Release
"Event sponsors and media partners include Fast, IBM, CEA, MoCA, Move
Networks, Mozes, Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, Parks Associates,
JackMyers.com, CableFAX Daily, CableFAX, Cable 360 Net, The Cable FAXIES
awards, webcastr, Billboard Publicity Wire, Frank N. Magid Associates,
New York-Tokyo and NVPR." From the press release "Digital
Media Wire Announces Agenda & Speakers for Future of Television in Los
Angeles, March 24-25."
March
6, 2008 — WKTV Channel 2, New York
"By 2012, close to 33 million U.S. households will have
broadband services with speeds of 10 Mbps or higher, capable of
streaming high-definition video, according to Parks Associates'
North American Broadband Market Update. At year-end 2007, 5.7 million,
or 9 percent of U.S. broadband households, had such speeds."
"Until recently, telecom operators' aggressive deployment of deep
fiber services and the competitive reaction from cable MSOs fueled the
growth of high-bandwidth broadband services," said Yuanzhe
Michael Cai, Director of Broadband and Gaming, Parks
Associates. "As consumer excitement over pure bandwidth subsides,
however, service providers will have to deliver appealing,
bandwidth-intensive, value-added services such as HD video streaming and
content placeshifting in order to retain customers and increase ARPU."
"If high-bandwidth broadband services fail to reach mass-market
consumers, the United States may lose its competitive edge in the next
round of technology innovation,"
Cai said. "Such a scenario would be unpleasant."
From the news/technology posting, "Broadband Speeds Up"
March
6, 2008 — IT Business Edge
"Though the premise of Parks Associates‘ report on
broadband penetration is a little far afield, it does provide food for
thought. The report’s main conclusion is that by 2012, 33 million homes
in the United States will have broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps or
higher. Just a bit more than half of that number — 5.7 million, or 9
percent of U.S. broadband homes — had such speeds at the end of last
year."
"The interesting quote is from
Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai
, the firm’s director of broadband and gaming and, presumably, the
writer of the report. He suggests that high bandwidth deployments to
date have been driven by competition between the cable and telephone
industries."
From the article, "Cable Moves Toward the Big 3-0," by Carl
Weinschenk
March
6, 2008 — eMarketer
"Nearly 33 million US households will have broadband services
with speeds of 10 Mbps or higher by 2012, up from 5.7 million at the end
of 2007, according to a March 2008 report by Parks Associates."
"Parks Associates said that although the new higher-speed
broadband services appeal to many existing users, there are some
potential issues."
From the blog, "US Broadband Users Want More Zip"
March
6, 2008 — U.S. News & World Report
"A study from
Parks Associates says that a 10-megabit connection is needed to
stream HD content and that only about 9 million U.S. homes would qualify
this year. "
"But that number should leap to 33 million homes by 2012, says the
report by
Michael Cai at Parks."
From the article, "33 Million U.S. Homes Could Stream HD by
2012," by David LaGesse
March
5, 2008 — TMCnet
"In fact, according to Parks Associates’ North American
Broadband Market Update, by 2012, close to 33 million U.S. households
will have broadband services with speeds of 10 Mbps or higher, capable
of streaming high-definition video. "
"Until recently, telecom operators' aggressive deployment of deep
fiber services and the competitive reaction from cable MSOs fueled the
growth of high-bandwidth broadband services," said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai,
Director of Broadband and Gaming, Parks Associates, in a recent
statement." "As consumer excitement over pure bandwidth subsides,
however, service providers will have to deliver appealing,
bandwidth-intensive, value-added services such as HD video streaming and
content placeshifting in order to retain customers and increase ARPU."
"If high-bandwidth broadband services fail to reach mass-market
consumers, the United States may lose its competitive edge in the next
round of technology innovation,"
Cai said. "Such a scenario would be unpleasant."
Parks Associates’ market update highlights current broadband
market conditions, analyzes significant events impacting future
development, addresses the outlook for fiber and other alternative
access methods, examines the market potential of value-added services,
profiles the consumer perspective regarding broadband and value-added
services, and forecasts future growth.
An internationally recognized market research and consulting company,
Parks Associates specializes in emerging consumer technology
products and services. The company creates research capital for
companies ranging for Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market
reports, primary studies, consumer research, customer research,
workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.
Parks Associates’ expertise includes new media, digital
entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television
services, digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer
electronics, and home control systems and security.
From the article, "Report Shows Strong Growth in Higher
Broadband Speeds in US by 2012 ," by Susan J. Campbell
March
4, 2008 — Promo Magazine
"One analyst group quoted in the report, Parks
Associates, expects that 84% of all in-game ads in console games
will be dynamic; in 2006, only 27% were."
From the article, "Game Ads to Double by 2012: eMarketer," by
Brian Quinton
March
4, 2008 — Light Reading
"Parks Associates , citing upcoming Docsis 3.0
deployments and investments in other FTTx platforms, predicts that
nearly 33 million U.S. homes will be served by speeds of 10 Mbit/s or
greater by 2012, up from 5.7 million at the end of 2007. (See
Millions to Have 10 Mbit/s by '12.) "
From the Cable Digital News article, "Florida Crows Over Docsis
3.0," by Jeff Baumgartner
March
4, 2008 — Ugens Erhverv, Denmark
"At the summit leading companies such as Merten, Horstmann,
Danfoss, and market researcher Parks Associates as well as publicly
funded organizations like 'Energisparefonden' (Danish Energy Saving
Trust (DEST) presenting the newest trends, products and market
strategies pertaining to home control. "
"One of the leaders in home control market research, Parks
Associates, will introduce the latest market trends at the event. Parks
sketches out and differentiates between the development of the American
and the European home control markets and discusses the unique
requirements of the consumers for home control products or solutions,
based on their studies."
From the article, "'Summit' om home-control teknologi"
March
4, 2008 — Los Angeles Times
"There's a growing sense among analysts and technology vendors
that cellphone users would prefer advertiser-supported entertainment
too. For example, see
this report from Parks Associates and USC's Entertainment
Technology Center, which urges Hollywood to offer free content to mobile
users as a way to promote other sales."
From the article, "Ads Are Back," by Jon Healey
March
3, 2008 — Media Post Publications
"A joint white paper from the Entertainment Technology
Center at the University of Southern California (ETC@USC) and research
firm Parks Associates says the basic technology is available, and
studios are missing a major opportunity to boost sales. "
"Rather than just sell digital content, offer free movie previews and
clips as advertainment to encourage people to buy a theater ticket or
talk about the movie," said
John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. "The
movie industry has evolved slowly in the past 100 years ... and you
can't turn the industry on a dime, but you can adapt business
relationships and technologies to market movies in short form."
From the article, "Study: Short-form Videos Could Spur Movie
Ticket Sales," by Laurie Sullivan
March
3, 2008 — Shoot Online
"Advertisers spent $370 million in 2006 in casual games,
with an estimated growth to reach over $2 billion by 2011, according to
Parks Associates' recent research."
From the press release, "Former Bolt.com Owner Launches Gamers
Media, Vertical Ad Network for Casual Gaming"
March
1, 2008 — RCRWireless News
"Hollywood content producers looking to cash in on mobile
should take a cue from The Red Hot Chili Peppers and give it away — now.
That’s the message of a white paper released last week from Parks
Associates and the think tank Entertainment Technology Center at USC."
"Parks Associates found that less than 10% of Internet users
would be willing to purchase a digital movie download — a figure that
surely dwarfs the percentage of users willing to pay to watch something
on a tiny screen."
"Hollywood should strive to use portable platforms to generate
revenues directly (through the sale of their content) and also
indirectly by promoting consumption via more traditional channels,” the
Parks Report stated."
From the press release, "Content kings urged to share the
wealth," by Colin Gibbs
February
27, 2008 — PC World
"Sooner or later the U.S. will become more like the
international market, where phones can be swapped between different
providers and the applications are more open," predicts
John Barrett,
director of research for Parks Associates. "We are inching toward
the day when handsets will be more like PCs and less like traditional
phones."
From the article, "Coming From Asia: The Next Cool Cell Phones," by
Dan Tynan
February
27, 2008 — Macworld
"Two research firms - Park Associates and Entertainment
Technology Center at USC - have released a white paper, How
Hollywood Can out-Apple Apple explaining what film moguls need to do
if they want to ride the crest of the digital convergence wave."
"Hollywood shouldn't let Apple make all the
money, especially since they are the ones making the movies," said
John Barrett,
director of research at Parks Associates. "Judicious use of free
mobile content can help drive ticket and DVD sales."
Park Associates says less than 10 per cent of internet users are
willing to purchase films online at current prices, and suggest studios
could drive consumer interest simply by dropping prices on downloads.
From the article, "Hollywood urged to learn from Apple," by Jonny
Evans
February
24, 2008 — engadgetHD
"According to research firm Parks Associates, revenues from home
theater and distributed audio systems will almost double over the next
five years and reach $11-billion. If the current housing slump has you
thinking that you'll be in your current abode forever and miss out on
your share of that whole-home pie, take heart -- the firm expects to see
growth in the retrofit market as well."
From the
blog, "'Custom' installs becoming less so," by Steven Kim
February
20, 2008 — The Wall Street Journal
In 2007, out of about 50 million U.S. households with a game console,
about 11 million had one console connected to the Internet, according to
Parks Associates, a technology research firm.
From the
article, "Videogaming for Dollars? You Bet," by Christopher Lawton.
February
13, 2008 — The Wall Street Journal
Just 1.5% of homes in the U.S. now use wireless monitoring systems,
but that percentage is expected to reach 5% to 6% by 2012, according to
market researcher Parks Associates.
From the article, "Keeping
Watch for Burglars (And Tabs on the Kids)," by Christopher Lawton.
February
6, 2008 — Washington Post
Understanding customers' needs will ultimately help Dell deliver
better services to consumers too, said
Kurt Scherf, vice
president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. However, while Dell
has been criticized for a weak consumer support function, the new support
model is targeted only at enterprise customers for now. It is possible
that this support model will be delivered to customers in the future, Dell
said.
From the article "Dell Amends Enterprise Support Plan."
February
5, 2008 — MSNBC
John Barrett,
analyst at Parks Associates in Dallas, said pioneering efforts in
Europe and Asia involving TV broadcasts to cell phone have produced mixed
results.
"The model that seems to be dominating in Asia involves the consumers
buying a cell phone and then watching the broadcasts for free, with the
carrier hoping to generate revenue by selling ads — it's just TV on your
cell phone, in other words,"
Barrett told
LiveScience. "In Europe, the arrangement is more like pay TV.
"The Asian approach has proven more popular, and there are high levels
of adoption, but it is doubtful that anyone has made any money from it,"
he said. "With the European approach, people may have made money, but it
is unlikely that many people have adopted it." ...
Barrett
said his firm's surveys have identified two groups that might be
interested in watching TV on mobile devices.
The first would be males ages 18-35 whom
Barrett called
"have-it-alls," who would actually watch entertainment programs. The
second would be slightly older male "road warriors" interested in getting
news and weather blurbs while waiting in airports or cafes.
From the article "TV migrates to cell phones," by Lamont Wood.
January 30,
2008 — GameSpot
A report last year from market-research firm Parks Associates
predicted that in-game advertising would leap from $55 million in 2006 to
$800 million by 2012.
From the article "Execs question in-game
advertising," by Emma Boyes.
January 13, 2008
— The Sunday Times
Microchips are now so cheap and smart they can be put in anything,
said Stuart Sikes,
president of the research firm Parks Associates. “This was the year of the
‘connected appliance’.” ...
Between them, these trends mean it no longer
works to go it alone. “The speed of technological development is
continuing at such a pace that people have to cooperate to get their ideas
on to the market,” said Sikes.
Splendid isolation is out. ...
While the competition looks tougher, it would be a fool who wrote off
Apple’s chances of leading from the front in the second digital decade.
Sikes said he had
initially not been a big fan of the iPhone.
There are other phones on the market that are faster and smarter. “Then
I bought one for my wife for Christmas. It’s fantastic,” said
Sikes. When Jobs takes to
the stage on Tuesday, you can bet there will be plenty of people still
happy to play with Apple.
From the article "Gadgets swamp our digital future," by Dominic
Rushe.
January 13,
2008 — TMCnet
The digital photo frame market is poised for significant growth and we
expect sales volume to top 44 million units globally by 2011, said
Harry Wang, senior
analyst at Parks Associates, a Dallas-based digital home technology
consultancy. In order for the digital photo frame to become a mainstream
product, vendors must further polish its features and usability to best
fit consumer demand. Ubicom's reference design addresses the future of the
industry by providing a simple user-interface to allow everyone to view
images easily over a home network on a digital photo frame.
From the article "Ubicom Introduces Wireless Digital Photo
Frame Reference Design."
January 8,
2008 — The Salt Lake Tribune
Comcast and other cable companies are relying on new innovations to
address increasing threats from telephone and satellite companies, said
Michael Cai, an analyst
at tech research firm Parks Associates in Dallas.
From the article
"Comcast: Broadband is going to be 16 times faster," by Bob Keefe.
January 7, 2008
— 4HomeMedia Press Release
"An estimate 16 million seniors in the US could benefit from home
health monitoring technology by 2012 and this addressable market will
expand even faster beyond that point due to an aging baby boomer
population," said Harry
Wang, Senior Analyst of digital health research at Dallas-based
digital home technology consultancy Parks Associates, "the market calls
for innovative applications and service models to raise user awareness and
drive adoption."
From the press release "4HomeMedia (4HM) Launches
Broadband Home Health Service."
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