Parks Associates Predicts Booming Growth for In-Home Entertainment Networks

The number of U.S. households with a connected entertainment network will reach 30 million by 2010, according to a new report from Parks Associates. A connected entertainment network is a network composed of either a PC connected to at least one consumer electronic (CE) device or multiple interconnected CE devices such as a whole-house DVR system.



According to the study, called "Networks in the Home: Connected Consumer Electronics", connected entertainment will be at the heart of the development and business opportunities in the digital home. For the near term, video service providers and CE and home networking manufacturers are driving this space with the deployment of whole-house DVRs and digital media adapters, respectively, but there will need to be cross-industry collaboration, such as efforts like the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), to realize fully the opportunities in connected entertainment.



"Consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers are still searching for the Rosetta stone of the connected entertainment market," said Harry Wang, research analyst at Parks Associates. "To move beyond the early-adopter stage, CE manufacturers must ally with content and service providers, software developers, and silicon designers to build elegance and usability into the product design and bring popular digital content to consumers' fingertips anywhere in the home."http://www.parksassociates.com