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
What's more, Parks Associates found that about seven in 10 Americans watch a short video on their phones each day. Meanwhile, 20% of mobile video viewers spend a half hour or more watching short-form...
Meanwhile, the latest data from Parks Associates’ OTT Video Market Tracker confirm that while Millennials’ viewing consumption habits do differ somewhat from the broader population’s, they aren’t will...
In a similarly unsettling development for Apple, the tech giant appears to be playing catch-up in an area it has long dominated: mobile hardware. As Amazon’s Echo continues to gain traction -- and Goo...
At the end of 2015, Parks says about 20% of U.S. broadband homes had cancelled at least one OTT video service during the previous 12 months. Growing levels of password sharing with OTT services is...
