Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

How Parks Associates Helped Shape 30 Years of Smart Home Innovation

In a video interview from CONNECTIONS 2026 in the Silicon Valley, Elizabeth Parks reflects on the evolution of the connected home market, the growing role of AI and why the dealer channel still matters in an increasingly automated world.

Parks Associates brought its CONNECTIONS conference back to Santa Clara, Calif., May 4-6, for its 30th anniversary edition, a milestone for a firm that has spent four decades tracking the evolution of the connected home market. From the early days of home networking and automation to today’s AI-powered ecosystems, the annual conference has long served as a gathering point for manufacturers, service providers, dealers and technology executives trying to understand where the market is heading next.

As part of my coverage from the event, I sat down with Elizabeth Parks for a conversation that touched on both the industry’s past and the increasingly complicated future now taking shape around AI, interoperability, cybersecurity and the connected consumer. During the discussion, Parks reflected on how many of today’s smart home conversations mirror ideas the industry was already discussing decades ago — only now with far more sophisticated technology behind them.

Parks said that dynamic places enormous pressure on companies to deliver a strong first experience because consumers who encounter friction early may never move deeper into the category.

We also discussed the growing challenge facing dealers and installers as AI-enabled products and services rapidly enter the market. While Parks acknowledged the pace of innovation may outstrip how quickly many integrators can adapt, she emphasized the importance of manufacturers continuing to support dealer channels through training, programs and workforce development efforts.

Toward the end of the conversation, Parks pointed to cybersecurity and data privacy as areas she believes will become much larger concerns across the connected home landscape in the years ahead, even as AI continues to dominate industry conversations.

Watch the full video interview for more from Elizabeth Parks on the evolution of the smart home market, what still surprises her after three decades of research and where she believes the industry is heading next.

From the article, "How Parks Associates Helped Shape 30 Years of Smart Home Innovation" by Rodney Bosch

Previously In The News

40% Of US Pay-TV Consumers Use TVE

TV Everywhere reached 40% of US pay-TV consumers in 2015, up from 22% in 2013, according to new research from Parks Associates. Entertainment Habits on Connected CE Devices shows the percentage of...

OTT Video Is Growing In Europe

However, the number of paid subscriptions in Europe is significantly lower, where 30% of broadband households in the UK and 17% in France subscribe to OTT video, compared to 64% of US broadband househ...

Parks: Netflix Is OTT Leader In The US

Parks Associates announced OTT data showing that at the end of 2015, approximately 20% of US broadband households had cancelled at least one OTT video service in the past 12 months. In 2Q 2015, 18% ha...

16% Of US Homes Have OTT Sports Service

16% of US broadband households have a sports OTT video service subscription, according to Parks Associates. Although it does not stream live games, NFL Game Pass is the most highly adopted service,...