By the end of this year, nearly half of all new thermostats sold will be internet-connected "smart" devices as more consumers take the first steps toward creating a digital smart home, Greentech Media reports.
Citing new market research from Parks Associates, the website said fully connected homes aren't in the cards for most consumers, but a growing number of them are buying and installing the devices. Buying habits also are shifting as more people buy the thermostats directly from retail stores or through HVAC specialists rather than from utilities.
Smart thermostats, like the Nest, allow homeowners to monitor and control temperatures with their smart phones of other Wi-Fi-connected devices. A variety of similar web-accessed tools are becoming available.
By 2017, Parks Associates predicts the total number of thermostats sold will top 10 million, with smart thermostats accounting for more than half of that, a chart accompanying the Greentech Media report indicates.
From the article "Smart Thermostats on the Rise" by Scott Gibson.
Loyalty is the name of the game for places like Netflix and Hulu going forward, Callahan says. “It’s much easier to keep a customer than acquire a new one,” he explains. High turnover has been one...
The benefit is that you can cancel any time you want, and are only committed on a month-to-month basis. This might serve as a good move for Amazon, allowing people to dip their toes into the Prime wat...
Netflix has by far the most loyal subscribers of its competitors, according to new research by Parks Associates. Analysts found that Netflix subscribers were much less likely to cancel than those o...
Entry into the smart speaker market makes sense for a company with smart home aspirations. "As the success of Echo and Google Home took off, everyone expected Apple to follow suit," said Brad Russe...
