Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Smart thermostats are tough sell, but ComEd hopes rebates boost interest

A study released this month by Parks Associates found only 18 percent of consumers would buy a smart thermostat at $250, but offering a $100 rebate more than doubled the pool of interested buyers.

"The market for smart thermostats is still in the early adopter phase," said Tom Kerber, director of internet of things strategy for Parks Associates, a Texas-based consumer technology research and consulting company. "To move beyond early adopters, they have to offer products at a lower price point."

Kerber said prices for the first-generation smart thermostats started at about $400 but have dropped to about $250 for Nest and other leading products. He said breaking through the $150 price point opens it up to a broader market.

From the article "Smart thermostats are tough sell, but ComEd hopes rebates boost interest" by Robert Channick.

Previously In The News

Report: U.S. Households Will Buy More Than 10 Million Smart Home Controllers in 2021

Parks Associates announced new smart home research today showing 26% of smart homeowners purchased their devices from brick-and-mortar retail stores such as Best Buy, Home Depot, or Walmart, making th...

Cutting the cord: 59% of Americans have canceled cable TV, signaling the dominance of streaming giants Netflix, Hulu and Amazon

Netflix is also preparing to crackdown on illegal account sharing via new artificial intelligence software, which will be able to analyze which users are logged in and then flag shared accounts. Th...

Tech Companies Waging Big Battle Of The Bots

In order for a virtual helpmate to run your life, it needs to engage with the providers of all the services you rely on, from your calendar app to your Uber ride. Those providers must either partner w...

Smart Home Goal: No Doorbell Left Behind

In a second-quarter 2016 survey of on-line households, research company Parks Associates found that 50 percent of smart-doorbell owners use the devices to see who's at the door when they're not home,...