Support services for digital home systems predicted to reach nearly US$1bn by 2011

June 11, 2007 - The boom in consumer electronics and home automation systems is forecast to result in a considerable growth for troubleshooting and repair support services in the next 12 months.

The findings were published in a new study by consumer electronics research company Parks Associates, entitled “Digital Home Services: Carriers, Retailers, and the Consumer.”  Consumer spending in the US alone for technical support services for home computers and networks is expected to rise from approximately US$ 450mn in 2007 to US$ 977mn by year-end 2011.  In-home services for the installation and set-up of new PCs is predicted to generate over US$ 700mn in revenue by year-end 2011.

Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates’ Vice President and principal analyst, commented that: “Consumers have been very consistent in expressing both their frustration with the complexity of today’s digital home products and services and their willingness to seek professional assistance to solve these issues.  Customer service and support are… significant revenue-generating opportunities for forward-thinking companies.”

Scherf identified eight factors which are critical to delivering end-to-end digital home support.  These include developing strong solutions to simplify customer premise equipment (CPE) and hardware installation, automating troubleshooting solutions, improving service provision, building metrics-gathering solutions and improving help desk support systems.