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Parks Associates: Making Entertainment via The PC An 'Outside-of-the-Box' Experience (30/3/2004)

Expansion of The PC Peripheral and Software Markets Accompanies the Growth of Content Services and Consumer Desire to Use Home Computers for Multimedia Applications

With more consumers using their home computers to store and interact with digital content, a variety of new PC peripherals, user interfaces, and media capturing and editing software will drive a multimedia evolution in the PC, according to The PC as a Multimedia Platform. This new report from Parks Associates finds that for this product shift to continue, consumers must have seamless connectivity to content -- whether self-created and stored or accessed through a growing number of download and pay-per services. Only then will solutions providers find a willing audience as the home computer and network expand beyond their traditional productivity applications and toward increased sales and margins.

"For some time, the promise of a multimedia-enabled 'next-generation' home computer has been tempered by low consumer demand, the dearth of compelling applications, and less-than-seamless hardware and software," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "However, we are optimistic given the release of new products such as digital media adapters and receivers that extend the entertainment reach of the home computer to other parts of the home. We also anticipate a good uptake for video imaging tools and software, external and network-attached storage, and larger and slimmer computer monitors, all of which will create a more seamless and valuable entertainment experience for consumers."

Parks Associates' The PC as a Multimedia Platform addresses the prospects for entertainment on the PC by examining hardware and software solutions designed to enhance the multimedia experience. It also includes a consumer-side analysis, providing primary consumer research about how end users interact with their home computers for entertainment applications and how they view emerging "entertainment-centric" activities on the home PCs.

www.parksassociates.com