The Personal Emergency Response Service (PERS) market is in transition, trying to shake off its decade-old image of "granny's technology" and re-introduce its services as a more modern care concept. Technology, particularly IP-enabled technology innovations in hardware, software, and service platforms, is driving this transition.
For years, the industry has managed to increase subscribers at a single-digit rate, with intense pricing resistance from consumers. One reason for this slow growth is fragmentation within the industry. There is only one large player-Philips' Lifeline-and it manages about 48% of the PERS subscribers in the U.S. The remaining market shares are divided among small, local firms, each without much operational scale but nonetheless succeeding due to local roots and connections with existing customers. Philips' purchases of Lifeline and Health Watch in 2005-2006, the top companies in the PERS business at the time, led many industry observers to believe that the PERS industry was ready for consolidation. But activity subsided, and market fragmentation has largely remained.
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