The Internet Empowering 25 Million Residential Gateways, $5B Market

SAN FRANCISCO Forum2000 - October 23, 2000, at Forum2000 - Empowering the Internet @ Home, attended by 300 industry executives marketing new products and services using the Internet or IP, Parks Associates released new data on the residential gateway market. That market, just now emerging, will grow to 25 million installed units at a value of $5 billion (USD, end-user value) by 2005. The residential gateway connects the wide-area network to the in-home network, and Parks Associates' research indicates that consumer adoption of solutions that gain value from a gateway device, particularly broadband services, will increase dramatically in the next few years. The efforts of consortiums, including the Internet Home Alliance, a new initiative announced at Forum2000, will facilitate this end.

"Parks Associates predicts that every home in the U.S. will have at least one gateway - including either narrow- or broadband connections, by 2010," said Kurt Scherf, Vice President of Research at Parks Associates.

More than 30 industry experts from industries as diverse as energy, entertainment, and computing spoke at Forum2000 in order to share their visions of the future for technology and Internet-based services in the home. The event started on Tuesday, October 17, with the formal announcement of the Internet Home Alliance, an industry consortium of 14 leading retailers, Internet infrastructure suppliers, and consumer device manufacturers among others. The effort is intended to strengthen the marketing efforts for Internet-enabled solutions and encourage consumer adoption.

"Cisco initiated the Internet Home Alliance in order to build the ecosystem necessary to support the Internet lifestyle," said Mike Moone, group vice president and general manager, Cisco's Consumer Line of Business, who addressed Forum2000 attendees on Wednesday, October 18. "The Alliance will work with all members of the industry, from service and content providers to home integrators and developers, to accelerate parallel industry growth. This will allow the industry to quickly deliver Internet lifestyle solutions that add value to consumers' lives."

"Sales of information appliances will explode over the next five years," states Tricia Parks, president of Parks Associates. "In listening to representatives from such companies as National Semiconductor, Qubit, and others speak of the potential, it is clear that volume for the category at large will outpace PCs within a few short years. As exciting is the strong potential for a new breed of services from the Internet, aimed at helping us all better manage our daily lives within our homes."

At Forum2000, Parks Associates was host to 300 industry executives from manufacturing companies and service providers. Featured speakers included leaders providing innovative Internet-based solutions and services. Keynote speaker Regis McKenna discussed the shifting business strategies impacted by the Internet. For a complete agenda, please visit Forum2000 at www.parksassociates.com 

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is a Dallas, Texas-based market research firm specializing in emerging technologies and services for the home. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides primary and secondary research on home systems, in-home networks, home security, consumer electronics, telecommunications, Internet service, energy utility, and subscription TV industries. Parks Associates' clients include both Fortune 500 companies and small start-ups. Services include syndicated reports, multiclient studies, custom consulting, workshops, and conferences.

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