Technology has seeped into our lives quite seamlessly. From desktops, handsets to the smart locks, smart lights, the innovations continue to amaze us. The one idea that has been trending for a while is that of a “smart home”. It’s just not the tech world that wants it to happen, it’s even the people who appreciate the concept of internet-connected devices.
Research firm Park Associates shared new consumer IoT data along with strategic insights to encourage adoption of smart home products and devices. Hosting CONNECTIONS Summit at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, it revealed a research from a Q4 2016 survey which was carried out across the States. The survey, focused on smart device ownership, shows 26% of U.S. broadband households own a smart home device, indicating a 7 % YoY increase.
The data further shows smart home device ownership has more than doubled in the last two years, and Parks Associates estimates companies will sell about 55 million smart home devices in 2020. Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates, stated,
With adoption now over one-fourth of all U.S. broadband households, smart home companies are focused on expanding their product footprint, offering new value propositions to consumers, and creating new opportunities to monetize their IoT platforms.
The summit featured over 35 industry executives in six sessions on smart home adoption and usage, demand for new features, privacy and security issues, and crossover opportunities with connected health, energy management, and connected entertainment.
Asit Goel, SVP, and GM, Secure Monitoring & Control/ Internet of Things, NXP Semiconductors, believes it is gradual refinement and awareness of value propositions such as security, savings, convenience, that really matter to mass-market consumers. These, along with the support, marketing, and service infrastructure, play a prominent role in driving mainstream adoption of smart home devices.
While, Bernd Grohmann, Executive Vice President, and CTO, eQ-3 AG, said voice control is the biggest technology innovation impacting the connected home market from a consumer perspective. This is seen dominating the market currently, not only companies are working on integrating voice control in smart home devices, automakers are also walking on this path, Ford going on with Amazon’s Alexa and Nissan with Cortana.
Consumers, nowadays, are ready to burn their pockets to control their home in the way that’s most convenient for them. Few taps on mobile, using TV remote with voice commands, or via web browsers, smart devices are really making our lives simpler and organized.
