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

More People Listen To Music On Smartphones Than Make Calls, Study Finds

US-based market researcher, Parks Associates, in its study said that 68 percent of smartphone owners in the US listen to music via streaming outlets on a daily basis. The company also found, on a...

Next Gen Connected Devices Take Off & Consumer Love Them

Currently voice control is attracting much of the smart-home spotlight but it is products will also increasingly rely on video and data analytics, sound recognition and artificial intelligence to simp...

CONNECTIONS™ Conference

OCF is an Official Supporter of the 20th-annual CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference, hosted by international research firm Parks Associates, May 24-26, San Francisco. The average U....

AT&T-Time Warner Deal Could Spur More Mergers, Scrutiny

Beyond that, AT&T also gets revenue by licensing those movies and TV series to other pay-TV providers and subscription Net TV services such as Netflix. "Video and entertainment will remain the key dri...