Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

In A Connected World, Why Aren't Smart TVs Very Clever?

Turns out that smart TVs can be, well, pretty dumb. Even moderately priced sets can now connect to the Internet and run Netflix and other apps -- that's the "smart" part. Yet many people are ignoring the built-in features and turning to Apple TV, Roku and other stand-alone streaming devices that often do a better job.

In an August report, the NPD Group estimates that roughly a third of smart TVs in the U.S. weren't actually connected to the Internet. That's down from about half two years earlier, but still not good. Researchers at Parks Associates found that even as more Americans are using smart TV functions, streaming device usage has grown even faster.

"If you're a streaming media box (maker), you've got much more ability to push new features out into the market at an affordable price," says Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates' director of research. "They're very stiff competition for smart TVs."

From the article "In A Connected World, Why Aren't Smart TVs Very Clever?" by Anick Jesdanun and Ryan Nakashima.

Previously In The News

Next-Generation Wi-Fi 7 Standard Expected To Be Finalized in Early 2024

“Wi-Fi 7 offers dramatically increased speeds over Wi-Fi 6 and 6E,” said Kristen Hanich, an analyst with Parks Associates, a market research and consulting company specializing in consumer technology...

The Sensible Dwelling Cybersecurity Tales That Mattered This Year

In keeping with analysis from Parks Associates, 54% of U.S. web households report experiencing an information privateness or safety challenge over the past 12 months, a rise of 50% since 2018. From...

How to protect your Cyber Monday packages from porch pirates this holiday season

Video doorbells are also a growing in popularity across the U.S. In the second quarter of 2023, 20% of U.S. households had a video doorbell, according to the Smart Home Consumer Insights Dashboard pro...

From FAST channels to co-viewing, CTV advertising will look different in 2024

Free ad-supported television is growing dramatically. According to Parks Associates, U.S. ad-supported streaming households surged to 41% in this year’s third quarter, up from 31% in Q1 2023.  From...