The adoption of home networking solutions will spur parallel growth in the acquisition of non-PC Internet appliances, according to the recent study “Networks @ Home: Multiple-PC Households” by Parks Associates. In the national survey of multiple-PC households, consumers with a home network were found to be more likely than their non-networked counterparts to find utility in a portable device with Internet access (such as a “Web pad” or a mobile phone). In the same way that broadband services will drive network adoption, the survey results indicate that network ownership will motivate the sale of Web appliances. Of the households with a network, from within the 400 total households queried for the survey, 43 percent expressed interest in a portable device with Web access, while 36 percent expressed interest in a mobile phone with Web access. In both cases, the interest among non-networked households ranked at least 10 percentage points lower.
“We are beginning to see how consumers will tie all this technology together, which provides both a pattern and a chronology to technology adoption in the home,” says Brian Canny, analyst for Parks Associates. For more information, call (972) 490-1113 or visit www.parksassociates.com.