Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

The Market For Hearable Devices 2016-2020 – And Then There Were Airpods…

The hearables market goes back to the first Bluetooth headsets which were launched in 2001, followed by wireless stereo headphones, which arrived a few years later. Neither made great waves in the market – headsets were associated with cabbies rather than celebrities and Bluetooth stereo headphones took almost a decade to attain any market share. In 2013, that started to change. Major brands were taken by surprise as consumers started to purchase wireless headphones. The most credible reason I’ve heard for the change is that it was driven by the growth of mobile video on larger handsets, with users preferring to dispense with the annoyance of cables when holding the phone screen horizontally. That’s supported by research from Parks Associates showing the average US smartphone user stream music or video for 90 minutes each day. Whatever the reason for the sudden popularity, there is no question that they are now fashionable.

From the article "The Market For Hearable Devices 2016-2020 – And Then There Were Airpods…" by Nick Hunn.

Previously In The News

Parks: Over one-half of OTT households subscribe to multiple streaming services

Video subscribers’ appetite for OTT video continues to climb, with more households purchasing more than one service. New research from Parks Associates revealed that over 50% of U.S. OTT subscripti...

Smartwatches were finally worth our time this year

The growing popularity of smarter timepieces helps explain why smartwatches are co-opting features previously associated with fitness trackers and GPS sports watches, says Parks Associates analyst Kri...

Digital health care: Better than the doctor's office?

Oh, how times have changed. Over this past year of COVID-19 lockdowns, telehealth saw usage by US broadband households jump from 15% to 41% between the second quarter of 2019 and the same period in 20...

The probability of success for ESPN+

Parks Associates analyst Brett Sappington agreed that it will be compelling for some customers, particularly due to content that won’t be available elsewhere like MLS games and some of the college spo...