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

30% of U.S. Homes Have At Least 3 Smart Home Devices as Adoption Grows

30% of U.S. Homes Have At Least 3 Smart Home Devices as Adoption Grows Smart home device adoption is increasing, with nearly 30% of U.S. internet households now having three or more smart home devi...

Monitoring Matters: PERS and Lifestyle Management Opportunities

While speaking at the Parks Associates Connections Conference in May, I discovered that I wasn’t the only speaker suggesting that the word we will all hear more and more when it comes to home technolo...

Three in ten US households unsubscribe from streaming platforms to save money

Three in ten US households unsubscribe from streaming platforms to save money According to Parks Associates' "Video Services: Shifting Demand" report , 29% of internet-using households decided to u...

2023 CEDIA Shares: DEN Smart Home

Research from Parks Associates found the number of households selecting self-install has declined nearly 30 percent since 2019.  From the article, "2023 CEDIA Shares: DEN Smart Home" from Residenti...