Providing Market Intelligence for 40 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

Ridesharing Is Making It Harder Than Ever to Commit to a One-Car Relationship

Rising rideshare statistics offer plenty of fodder for utopian predictions of a car-free, community-focused future. But just because we’re using these services doesn’t mean we’re ready to give up on o...

Is Sharing Your Netflix Password Illegal?

In other words, it could be applied to the consensual sharing of a Facebook password. In the court’s ruling, the “owner” is not the user or the account-holder; it is the platform owner. And according...

Study: OTT Streaming Hours Grew by Over 100% Last Year

The company’s data also revealed that TV-connected streaming devices were the most popular for streaming OTT services. Most videos were consumed through devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and gamin...

The Best Wearable Fitness Tech We Saw At CES 2017

It’s one of the biggest arms races of the 21st century—literally. Once the preserve of hardcore fitness junkies, the activity tracker industry has exploded into the mainstream and is now set to surpas...