Pre-Wired Home Networks Expected to Reach Nearly One-Half of New Starts In Five Years

DALLAS - December 7, 2000 - Increased competition in the market for residential construction, combined with consumer demands for new technologies in the home will drive larger number of home builders to offer pre-installed home networks over the next few years, according to a new report by Parks Associates. Networks @ Home: Home Builders and Networking Wiring forecasts that as many as 48% of all new homes will be pre-wired with structured wiring solutions by the end of 2004. The market for structured wiring installations in new starts will exceed $1 billion during this same time frame.

"Many home builders have embraced wired home networks to create product differentiation, because consumer demand the key factor in driving the tremendous growth forecast for structured wiring installations," said Kurt Scherf, vice president of research, who co-authored the report. "As consumers become increasingly aware of the possibilities inherent in home networking and home control applications, the infrastructure necessary to facilitate these products and service fully will evolve from an option to a requirement in their new homes."

Several factors contribute to the growth of structured wiring installations, including an informed home-buyer market, trends toward master-planned communities, and the competitive nature of the industry. Consumers in general are becoming increasingly knowledgeable of their technological needs, especially as their dependence on high-tech amenities increases. Parks Associates also projects that the home buyer marketplace will soon contend with both the technological and sociological aspects of the whole community in their purchase decision, symptomatic of a resurgent interest in the more traditional notions of community design coupled with a demand for community-wide technology solutions. Finally, the builder and structured wiring industries are becoming more competitive with a myriad of companies offering new and unique home networking solutions.

"The number of manufacturers offering structured wiring solutions to home builders has more than doubled in the past two years," said co-author Brian Canny. "This increasingly crowded market will create a need for competitive pricing in pre-wired home networks and prompt new and innovative developments in connected solutions for the home, which will both ultimately benefit the end consumer."

Networks @ Home: 
Home Builders and Networking Wiring provides forecasts, trends, and overviews of the players in the structured wiring marketplace. For more information on this report, please contact Steve Harvey at 972-490-1113 or harvey@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.