The Gold Mine in the Work-at-Home Market

Dallas, June 14, 1999 - The number of work-at-home households accounts for more than 43% of US households, and presents office equipment manufacturers as well as service providers with a revenue gold mine, says Hongjun Li, Director of Research at Parks Associates.

Parks Associates divides work-at-home households into the following five categories: Telecommuters: people who are employed by an organization and work at home for at least eight hours per week during scheduled business hours. Full-time self-employed: people who are self-employed and work from home for at least 30 hours per week. Part-time self-employed: people who are self-employed and work from home for less than 30 hours per week. Moonlighters: people who work for an additional employer at home after hours and over the weekends. Spillovers: people who are employed by an organization and take unfinished work home for completion after hours and over the weekends.

On the basis of numerous national consumer studies that Parks Associates has conducted over the past few years, Li estimates that at the end of 1998, there were about 43 million US households with at least one work-at-homer. By the end of 2003, Li says, the total number of work-at-home households will reach 52 million, with telecommuters being the fastest growing segment.

The growth of the work-at-home market is attributed to three key drivers: Technologies that enable people to work from their home; Encouragement from employers and government agencies; Consumers' desire to have more control over their own lives through telecommuting or a home-based business.

Because work-at-home households have a much larger adoption rate of technology-based products and services, revenues from the work-at-home market in 1998 exceeded $10 billion for office-related equipment (e.g., computers, printers, fax machines, and telephone sets) and $60 billion for telecommunication and Internet services. Parks Associates predicts that the fastest-growing revenue opportunities for the work-at-home market will come from mobile telephony, dial-up and high-speed Internet access, additional phone lines, and home networking.

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. Parks Associates' services include syndicated reports, multi-client studies, custom consulting, workshops, and conferences.

Contact: Elizabeth Parks
Parks Associates
5310 Harvest Hill Rd
Suite 235, LB 162
Dallas, Texas 75230
E-mail: sales@parksassociates.com
Web site: www.parksassociates.com