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

Google's Nest Struggles Could Set Back The IoT Movement

The smart home devices sold by Google's home automation subsidiary, Nest, represent just a small fraction of the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market. However, Nest has become one of the most re...

Top 10 Streaming Services Ranked

Sling TV is on its way up and Sony PS Vue is still outside of the top 10 OTT services. Parks Associates released its 2016 top 10 service providers list showing a stable top 5 with indications that all...

Is Voice Technology Behind The Success Of Those Smarthome Gadgets

"Over 70% of voice-recognition users are satisfied with the experience of using this solution on their smartphones, which is driving experimentation with this functionality on other platforms, includi...

Giraffic Speaks At The 20th Connections US Conference By Parks Associates

The panelists were all in consensus that VR is not a just a temporary hype and will continue to grow. Recent study from Parks Associates revealed that 2.3M households in US already own a VR headset, s...