Dallas, Texas, January 11, 2021 – A new whitepaper from Parks Associates finds 26% of US broadband households reported purchasing a consumer electronics (CE) device between February and May 2020, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. The whitepaper “Supporting Today’s Connected Consumer,” developed in cooperation with Sutherland, a global Digital Transformation company, addresses the expanding opportunities for support providers to roll out new models of services, enhancing the customer experience and minimizing costs.
“At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, US households bought connected devices for entertainment, work-at-home, and remote learning use cases,” said Patrice Samuels, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. “Broadband and traditional service providers have opportunities to generate additional revenues by bundling technical support services for emerging connected devices with existing services.”
This influx of new connected devices is changing the technical composition of the home and driving the need for data-driven support services. A higher percentage of smart home device owners have reported experiencing problems with their devices in 2020 than in 2018, increasing from 14% in Q1 2018 to 34% in Q2 2020. Several factors are driving this increase, including more users, immature technologies, and complex use cases.
“Twenty-two percent of consumers who recently purchased and set up a CE device reported experiencing difficulty with the setup process,” Samuels said. “These poor product experiences drive up long-term support costs for brands, but device-generated data, especially when analyzed within the context of a consumer’s technical environment or ecosystem, can yield insights that could reduce or even eliminate these challenges. We will continue to see companies pursue comprehensive support measures for connected devices in order to ensure superior user experiences.”
“Consumers are increasingly looking for a product experience that’s very simple, with digital and self-help options,” said Bharat Chadda, SVP and Global Head, Technology Vertical, Sutherland. “The right customer experience is necessary to encourage device usability and adoption. At Sutherland, our mission is to deliver exceptionally engineered experiences, creating a seamless, technology-enabled, omnichannel engagement today that continues to delight tomorrow.”
To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific data, please contact Rosey Ulpino at rosey.ulpino@parksassociates.com or 972-490-1113.
About Parks Associates
Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.
The company's expertise includes the Internet of Things (IoT), digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, support services, consumer apps, advanced advertising, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security.
Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webinars, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, and Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV, and Digital Media. https://www.parksassociates.com
About Sutherland
Sutherland. Engineering tomorrow’s experiences, today.
We are a global products and platforms powerhouse inside a trusted digital transformation services company. Our mission is to deliver exceptionally-engineered experiences for both customers and employees. We accelerate growth for our clients by building integrated cloud-based solutions that get them to market faster. Our unique design approach leverages human-machine collaboration that delivers experiences today, that continue to delight, tomorrow. www.sutherlandglobal.com