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Is there any room left in the crowded home assistant market?

The tech world is abuzz with rumours that Spotify is potentially wading into the ‘home assistant’ marketplace. It’s a billion dollar business and could be the future for consumers wanting ‘smarter’ houses – but it is already a crowded market. The rumours are based on speculation as job postings for a project manager and analyst for a new hardware project to be developed and released. For Spotify to enter this space – it makes sense. However, is Spotify just a little too late to the party? As well, when you are last on the field and your opponents are Amazon, Google and Apple – the task ahead is daunting if not dangerous for the hundreds of millions of dollars in development and marketing that will be required. Is this just speculation for attention or will Spotify jump in and try to stand out? It’s not easy to decipher or decide. But that’s where the experts from IDC Canada can help. Jean Philippe (JP) Bouchard is Vice-President, Mobility and Consumer Research and is an expert in the areas of modeling and market forecasting, mobile device and platforms, go to market strategies, strategic marketing and product management. Simply click on JP’s icon to arrange an interview. Source:

Discrimination in the Shared Economy?

Is there a discrimination problem in the shared economy? According to research by Emory University’s Ruomeng Cui, users whose names suggest a certain race could result in discriminatory acts, particularly ignored or denied requests. Cui and her colleagues set up fictional, thinly-populated Airbnb accounts with traditional Caucasian and African American names. Requests from African American names were accepted nearly 20 less often than those from guests with white names. The average acceptance rate of white guests was 48 percent compared to 29 percent among African-Americans. But, by simply adding a positive review to the fictional account, results balanced — 56 percent acceptance for white guests and 58 percent for African American guests. Even negative reviews were found to eliminate discrimination in guest selection. "This shows the cause of discrimination stems from the lack of information,” Cui says. Users put more weight on details that are less obvious than names or perceived race, such as reviews and anecdotes. Cui and colleagues recommend platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, LetGo or OfferUp encourage users to provide reviews and feedback whenever possible in order to eliminate discriminatory practices. Source: