This year, the CONNECTIONS Europe conference brought together connected home and digital living industry leaders from around the world. Speakers from Cisco, Intel, Panasonic, Technicolor, and many other leading companies addressed audiences about the future of IoT and connected CE, trends and innovations in the smart home, and connecting consumers to innovative products and services.

The top five takeaways from this year’s event:

1. Connected CE device adoption is rapidly growing in Europe.
According to Parks Associates research presented during the conference, both Spain and the UK are outpacing the U.S. in terms of Internet-connected device adoption. The growing presence of connected CE in European broadband households will be the foundation for the future growth of smart home and connected entertainment solutions.

2. Interoperable products and services are more sought-after than stand-alone.
Smart home consumers in Europe expect that smart products will be interoperable with other smart home equipment in the home. Over 80% of the broadband households in the UK, Spain, and Germany prefer to purchase devices as part of an interoperable system over stand-alone devices that do not work together, even if those individual devices offer more features. For services, bundled offerings prove a successful means of initially attracting consumers to the IoT.

3. Europe is fertile ground for OTT video services.
Because of Europe’s strong adoption of connected CE, the number of households who can access online video content is boosted significantly. Already, PC-to-TV connections in Europe outpace those in the U.S., and many European consumers are eager for more readily available online content for the TV. Additionally, among smartphone and tablet owners, 46% in Germany, 59% in Spain, and 47% in the UK use their mobile device to search for video content, revealing opportunities for multiscreen services.

4. The companies who provide fast, reliable, and high quality service will win the market.
Consumers are looking for the value a product or service provides, rather than the experience of simply owning another gadget. The user interface, too, ranks highly among consumer expectations—as the gateway between the provider and the user, the interface is a primary way to win or lose business. All in all, consumers are looking for providers who will give them what they want, or they will search elsewhere.

5. A transition from content to context is currently underway.
Due to the growth in the IoT in recent years, companies are now battling for consumers’ attentions. With so many new products and even more possibilities (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Amazon), the consumer sits in a powerful position to drive the market through choice.

Details and insights from each session will be available with the Event Summary, available soon for download. Visit www.connectionseurope.com to download research, view the 2014 agenda, and submit to speak for the 2015 event.

Join Parks Associates at the next CONNECTIONS series conference, the sixth-annual CONNECTIONS Summit, taking place January 6, 2015, during the International Consumer Electronics Show. Confirmed speakers for the event include ADT, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Cisco, Ericsson, Lowe's, TiVo, Verizon, and many more.
Visit www.connectionssummit.com for information on speakers, sessions, and how to register.