Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices

The rising occurrence of high-profile security hacks and privacy breaches, as well as being personally victimized, are contributing to ever-increasing consumer anxiety about smart home devices and platforms, according to new research.

Parks Associates’ latest quarterly survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households found that almost half of consumers rank data security and privacy issues as their greatest concerns about connecting devices to the Internet, compared to other problems they may encounter, such as with tech support. Forty percent of the respondents say they have experienced a privacy or security problem with a connected device in the past year, most commonly viruses and malware.

“Our most recent data reveals that almost half of U.S. broadband households are ‘very concerned’ [rating 6-7 on a 7-point scale] about hackers getting control of connected devices and hackers getting access to data from the device,” says Parks Associates Research Analyst Brad Russell. “In tracing trending changes on these consumer attitudes from 2014 to 2016, we find that while the total share of consumers who are ‘concerned’ [rating 5-7] has not appreciably changed, the share of those that are ‘very concerned’ has grown by 6% to 7%. Similarly, the share of consumers who are ‘not concerned [rating 1-3] has shrunk by about half.”

From the article "Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices" by Rodney Bosch.

Previously In The News

Roku IPO: Shares jump 68% as investors bet the firm can fend off Amazon, Apple and Google

Analysts say Roku has shown great upside by diversifying its revenue away from chiefly hardware to partnerships and advertising over its platform. “Over the past two-and-a-half years, Roku has expa...

Roku IPO: Shares jump 68 percent as investors bet firm can fend off rivals

Analysts say Roku has shown great upside by diversifying its revenue away from chiefly hardware to partnerships and advertising over its platform. "Over the past two-and-a-half years, Roku has expa...

TV antennas are making a comeback in the age of digital streaming

Billy Nayden, an analyst for the research firm Parks Associates, said the TV antenna resurgence is a byproduct of consumers feeling overwhelmed by the many viewing platforms available. Some are even s...

Smart home companies add brand equity and new tech in Q1 via acquisitions

New Parks Associates research in the firm's Smart Home Tracker finds smart home mainstays are strengthening their offerings by acquiring smaller companies with deep expertise. Parks Associates' Sma...