Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Business and COVID-19

According to research done by Parks Associates, technology was impressed into service at greater volumes than in previous years due to the stay-at-home orders in much of the country. They found one-third of smart device owners in U.S. households with broadband have increased usage of their devices during the COVID-19 pandemic, including 46% of smart door lock owners. As market adoption and usage increase, however, new challenges in the consumer experience are emerging, which could impact current and future growth. A growing percentage of smart home device owners now experience multiple problems with their devices each year, and 16% of US broadband households report home network problems have disrupted work-at-home activities during COVID-19.

Parks Associates’ surveys show nearly 29% of SMBs report their company is at risk of going out of business due to COVID-19. The public health crisis and months of shelter-in-place orders have had a dramatic impact, particularly on SMBs. Their report, New SMB Landscape: Devices, Communication, Security, Support, provides insights on technology adoption and needs among SMB owners and IT personnel and examines the changes taking place as a result of reduced budgets and a broad shift to working from home.

Parks Associates analyzed the data and found that most SMBs spend less than 20% of their overall budget on IT products and services, and one-third do not appear to have had a planned budget for IT products and services at all in 2020. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies scrambled to get the equipment to allow their employees to work at home. Nearly one-fourth report their spending on internet and IT services and devices has increased since the outbreak, and the continued uncertainty of the operating environment is making it difficult for them to develop solid budgetary plans for 2021.

From the article "Business and COVID-19".

Previously In The News

Tomorrow’s Communities Are Smart And Urban, Where Everything Acts As A Concept

And, looking at more current, household level trends, market research firm Parks Associates forecasts that mobile-only households will decline as fixed broadband networks expand. Mobile-only probably...

The Fastest Growing Video Advertising Platform Is Now CTV

As media conglomerates such as Disney DIS -3.3% and Comcast place a greater content priority on streaming it has promoted consumers canceling their cable subscription. A study from Parks Associates sa...

CES 2022 Recap: The Show Must Go On…And It Did

It’s also important to point out that CES is a showcase for actual product vendors and an event to learn about what’s happening in the consumer technology space. For example, it was immensely gratifyi...

Smart Home Tech Enters The Privacy Of The Bathroom, Redefining The Experience

Parks Associates, a research and analytics group focused on IoT and smart homes, shares that consumer demand for this type of product exists. The group’s research shows that one-third of consumers now...