Bearings are an essential part of our everyday lives, yet we only notice them when they fail. Then we become acutely aware of how maddening they can be.

Bearing failures can come out of nowhere and ruin your day. Replacing a wheel bearing in your car can keep you from getting to work and cost you a hefty repair fee. If a bearing breaks down in your computer’s hard drive, you may lose work files or treasured family photos and videos. 

Carbon fiber has been touted as the material of the future for decades. Reinforced plastics (called composites) with carbon fiber are several times stronger and several times lighter than steel or aluminum. The problem, of course, is that carbon fiber composites are also much more expensive — anywhere from $40 per pound to $500 per pound depending on the application. 

However, carbon fiber has recently scored its first major commercial success, in the aerospace market. Aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus had been experimenting with carbon fiber composites for a number of years, but the material was never able to be used for large aircraft structures such as the wings or body. That all changed with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which uses carbon fiber composites for the main structure, accounting for about half of total weight of the plane.

For decades, the tastes and preferences of the largest generational cohort — the baby boomers — have been an important factor shaping key trends in the US small appliances market. This group, noted also for its affluence, is now joined by another even larger generational group: the millennials.

Smart appliances connect to smartphones and tablets to enable alerts and remote control. For example, if you’d like to start the dishwasher or adjust your thermostat while you are at work, smart appliances will give you that ability.

Smart appliances offer many potential benefits to consumers, but will they gain traction in the market? For up-to-date industry analysis, check out the blog post below.

A forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting a near- or above-normal 2016 Atlantic hurricane season (after years of below-normal activity) throws the importance of impact-resistant windows and doors — sturdy-framed, multi-pane products designed to withstand violent winds and windborne debris — into sharp relief.   

In August, MarketResearch.com's publishing divisions appeared in top publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, and a variety of trade journals.

We've included a selection of press highlights below. Read on to learn more about what topics are trending in the media — from ancient grains and frozen foods to home organization products and wine packaging. To access more information about a particular subject, click the link to the report page.

Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Hailstorms. To most Americans, these extreme weather events are a source of dread (and sometimes fascination). For those in the roofing industry, however, they mean something else: work.

Like it or loathe it, it seems like everyone has one. No, not “an opinion,” a smartphone.

How many people in the US have a smartphone? About 60% of the total population in 2015. No small feat, considering the devices really only gained consumer market traction when Apple introduced the first-generation iPhone in June 2007.

What’s driving smartphone adoption? It certainly isn’t the ability to share meaningful voice conversations with friends and family — you don’t need a smartphone for that. The real value lays in the ever-expanding range of capabilities smartphones possess and the services they can access.

Wine incites passion — in winemakers and sommeliers, in world-renowned wine writers, and in people who have the occasional glass with dinner or keep a bottle or two around the house. 

Whether it’s a celebrated vintage from a bygone era purchased at auction or an inexpensive selection grabbed from a display near the cash register for a quick weeknight dinner or Sunday picnic, wine needs to be protected from oxygen. It’s the packaging that does this, and while that packaging doesn’t stir the kind of emotion that the wine inside may, many people are very opinionated about how the wines they drink are packaged. 

It is said that sooner or later, all that is old is new again. When it comes to household cooking appliances, all that is old needs to be replaced again — eventually.

The need for replacement is the fundamental driver of demand for US household cooking appliances, which include gas cooking appliances, electric cooking appliances, and microwave ovens. Consumers often buy a new model upon moving into a new home, or when an old appliance becomes nonfunctional or outdated. Of course, purchase decisions are influenced by key trends.