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

Smart household devices may be your biggest security blindspot

New research from Parks Associates shows 41 percent of U.S. homes with wifi plan to purchase a smart appliance or other wifi-connected household device in the next 12 months. The international rese...

'Game of Thrones' is gone, and so are some HBO subscribers

“I think churn is a big challenge for an industry that was essentially designed to allow it, where viewers can switch easily between services and there’s very little barriers to entry,” said Brett Sap...

Is Roku Ready to Enter the Smart-Speaker Market?

New data from research firm Parks Associates shows Roku still commands an industry leading 37% of the streaming-device market. Meanwhile, Amazon.com has padded its lead over a fading Google, with 28%...

Apple Inc. Could Have Trouble Selling a $200 Apple TV

In the United States, Roku, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) accounted for 86% of the streaming device market last year, according to research firm Pa...