Register

I agree with the Privacy Policy

In The News

IRobot faces a murky future amid rising Roomba competitors

February 01, 2024

home automation

The Boston Globe

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

To Invade Homes, Tech Is Trying to Get in Your Kitchen

Yet the so-called smart kitchen remains a tough sell. With the kitchen often a hub for families and friends, habits there can be hard to change. And many people see the kitchen and mealtimes as a have...

Streaming is heading toward a breaking point with consumers

However, while work on that puzzle continues and multiple companies look for a way to get streaming subscribers to stay in one place, customer churn is still high. Or, as Parks Associates describes it...

Eero’s New Wi-Fi Routers Are Step One In Its Plan To Become A Smart-Home Giant

The early support for Thread may even hint at where Eero is going next. Tom Kerber, an analyst for Parks Associates, notes that one of the main features of Thread is that it’s decentralized. Instead o...

TV antenna use surges amid coronavirus outbreak

That’s according to Parks Associates, which said that 25% of U.S. broadband households use an antenna to watch local broadcast TV channels, up from 15% in 2018. The firm said those figures could incre...

‹
1
2
...
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
...
746
747
›