(BI Intelligence)
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Developing unified and simple ecosystems is the leading trend in the connected home market, and Apple’s HomeKit is at the forefront of this trend following its revamp under the new native Home application last year.
Apple has hired Dropcam founder Greg Duffy to continue this effort, according to Business Insider.
While Duffy’s role at Apple is still unknown, this should help Apple further develop its platform, and the company might be able to leverage some of Duffy’s experience to launch a long-anticipated Amazon Echo competitor.
Duffy founded Dropcam in 2009 before selling the company to Alphabet-owned Nest Labs in 2014 for $555 million. Duffy worked to integrate Dropcam’s popular connected cameras into Nest’s line of offerings, but according to 9to5Mac, Duffy clashed with Nest co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell. While Fadell left Nest last year, Duffy continued to have issues with the company, even saying last March that selling his company to Nest and Alphabet was a mistake, according to Recode.
Here’s what Duffy could do for Apple:
- Help make HomeKit more appealing for device makers. One of the most significant weaknesses of Apple’s smart home ecosystem thus far is the relative lack of devices that work with it, as the company requires layers of protocols, tests, and additional hardware from device makers to make its devices compatible with the ecosystem. Currently, Apple shows only 23 accessories that are compatible with HomeKit on its store page. Duffy will likely work with internal developers and device makers to help make the HomeKit ecosystem more attractive, which is crucial to enhancing the appeal of the ecosystem more broadly.
- Duffy may also help the company launch an Echo and Google Home competitor to center the ecosystem. Last year, reports emerged that Apple was developing such a device, and the company moved the device into the testing phase in the fall, so it could be released soon. The device could also help boost HomeKit, especially if it’s an outgrowth of the Apple TV, which serves as one of the hubs for HomeKit ecosystems.
Should Apple launch a voice-centric speaker device like this:
- It will be entering an increasingly crowded market. Slice Intelligence recently argued in a report that Echo products are now mainstream products, pointing to the device’s dominant market position in the space. Meanwhile, the Google Home continues to gain new capabilities, Microsoft plans to launch a device later this year powered by the Cortana voice assistant, and BI Intelligence predicts that Samsung will also launch a device this year.
- Apple enthusiasts could drive adoption. While Apple is notorious for entering product markets somewhat later than other companies, they often revolutionize a space once they enter. Good examples of this are the iPhone and the iPad, as Apple didn’t invent the market for either product, but when it launched the devices the company ended up reinvigorating the space. The same could be true for a voice-activated speaker, though the company will face more challenges than it did in the tablet and smartphone markets.
At this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple finalized its smart home ecosystem by announcing the upcoming release of the Home app in iOS 10.
The app is built off HomeKit, which is Apple’s smarthome developer framework and interoperability protocol released in 2014. The app helps Apple iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users control HomeKit compatible smart home devices from a single app, rather than multiple apps.
While the app helps Apple users better manage smart home devices, BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, believes it will do little to spur the overall stagnant smart home market. The smart home market continues to be plagued by high device prices, limited value, and hard-to-install devices. Apple Home attempts to fix the fact that many of the devices are difficult to install, but the system has many limitations.
Nicholas Shields, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the Apple Home that analyzes the finally complete Apple Home ecosystem. It looks at the Apple Home app, as well as HomeKit, and discusses its potential effect on the overall do-it-yourself smart home market.
Here are some key points from the report:
- Apple is following Amazon’s success with voice automated control in the smart home. The tech giant opened Siri up to third-party developers, enabling voice activation of smart home devices within the Apple Home ecosystem.
- The Home app enables the user to control single smart home devices, multiple devices in a single place, and all of their devices at once.
- The Apple Ecosystem is faced with many barriers. They include stringent manufacturer requirements, limited device numbers, and a limited user base.
In full, the report:
- Identifies the key barriers preventing smart home growth
- Explains how the Home app works and its usability
- Examines the MFi program that smart home device makers have to use to make their devices compatible with the Apple ecosystem
- Discusses the potential role of Siri within the Apple Home ecosystem
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of the following options:
- Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you’ll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
- Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the Apple Home.
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