Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

IRobot faces a murky future amid rising Roomba competitors

The company is still “number one,” said Elizabeth Parks, president of market research firm Parks Associates in Dallas. But it’s a shaky number one. Parks estimates that iRobot had nearly two-thirds of the robot vacuum market in 2018, but now holds only a 48 percent share. Meanwhile, rival robot makers like SharkNinja, Roborock, Eufy, and Ecovacs have been steadily chipping away.

One possible reason, according to Parks, is concern about data privacy. More advanced versions of the Roomba and other robots use visual sensors to generate detailed maps of the user’s home. This information is shared with the manufacturers to develop more advanced products, but it could also potentially be used to monitor users.

From the article, "IRobot faces a murky future amid rising Roomba competitors" by Hiawatha Bray

Previously In The News

Amazon Fire TV is selling better than Apple TV

Will the rumored new model help Apple TV get back up the rankings? If recently released data from Parks Associates is correct, Apple TV slipped down from third to fourth place in the rankings of th...

Motorola tackles smartwatch market’s woman problem

According to the NPD Consumers and Wearables survey, which was taken in December 2014, 54% of fitness tracker owners in the United States were women, while women made up only 29% of smartwatch owners....

Apple Inc. Could Have Trouble Selling a $200 Apple TV

In the United States, Roku, Google , Amazon , and Apple accounted for 86% of the streaming device market last year, according to research firm Parks Associates. Roku and Google's Chromecast were th...

Once again, Amazon takes aim at Apple TV

As the holiday shopping season nears, it will be interesting to see how Apple AAPL -1.37% and Amazon’s media streaming devices do. Apple TV recently slipped from third to fourth place in the rankings...