Parks Associates: 50% of North American Broadband Households Will Be Smart Homes by 2020

DALLAS, TX–(Marketwired – May 4, 2016) – Parks Associates announced a new research report today that estimates broadband adoption will reach 84% of U.S. households and 79% of Western European households in 2016, after both regions reached 50% penetration in 2006. Global Connected Living Outlook: Pursuing the IoT Promise notes that this widespread access to high-speed data services is the main catalyst to growth in the connected home and consumer-based IoT, which is attracting major players, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook, in areas such as home entertainment and connected CE, smart home and security, apps and mobile devices, and connected cars and healthcare.

“Over the last 30 years, Parks Associates has seen the concept of the connected home expand to include new form factors while still retaining that core vision of delivering a superior consumer experience,” said Barbara Kraus, Director of Research, Parks Associates. “Given the market leadership positions of these larger companies in their core businesses and the extensive ecosystems they have built, their entry into the connected home ecosystem will help accelerate growth in established categories and emerging technologies such as wearables, smart fabrics, and virtual and augmented reality.”

• Ownership of smart home products increased from 16% to 19% of U.S. broadband households in the last year, and 44% of households that do not have a smart home device plan to purchase one in 2016. By 2020, 50% of North American broadband households will be smart homes. This current and future growth has prompted several big players to enter this market:
  Apple’s HomeKit-certified devices hit the market in 2015 from brands such as ecobee, August, INSTEON, and Lutron.
• The initial success of the Amazon Echo led to integration of its Alexa natural language processing platform with several smart home control platforms and stand-alone devices, including SmartThings, Wink, INSTEON, and Philips Hue.
• Facebook has announced its intent to help developers build IoT apps that power smart devices using the social network’s Parse software, which could ultimately be controlled by consumers through the Facebook platform.

“Adoption of the connected lifestyle continues to expand as the supporting technologies mature and the value propositions of smart, connected devices and streaming services are better understood by consumers,” said Brad Russell, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “The groundwork is laid for continued growth in 2016 and beyond by increased access to fixed and mobile broadband and improved resolution of interoperability challenges by more collaborative, though fragmented, communications networks.”

• Global Connected Living Outlook: Pursuing the IoT Promise features in-depth research on the following topics:
• Analysis of global digital lifestyle trends as part of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT)
  Innovations and opportunities in service categories, including broadband, television, digital content, and digital health, as well as connected home product categories
  Trends in supporting technologies, including access, cloud platforms, interoperability, privacy and security, technical support, and artificial intelligence
• Five-year market forecasts for gaming consoles, pay-TV subscriptions, smart home controllers, smart thermostats, professionally monitored security systems with smart home control, and connected light vehicles

For more information about this research, visit www.parksassociates.com. To schedule an analyst interview or to request specific data, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com, 720.987.6614.

About Parks Associates
Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.

The company’s expertise includes digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, support services, consumer apps, advanced advertising, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security.

Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webcasts, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, and Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer. http://www.parksassociates.com

CONTACT INFORMATION
Holly Sprague
Parks Associates
720.987.6614
hsprague@gmail.com

Source: Parks Associates: 50% of North American Broadband Households Will Be Smart Homes by 2020