Can every home become smart?

Last month I attended London’s Smart Home Summit, where once again it was possible observe a number of the vertical players attracted to the smart home solutions segment. 

The potential of these new revenue streams attracts the old and new players such as manufacturers of electronics, telecoms operators, software developers as well as a growing number of start-ups. Around 400 executives attended the two day show.

As to be expected, a number of big names were represented, such as Phillips, Google’s Nest technology and British Gas. The Summit provided decision makers from around the world with another opportunity to discuss the current state of the home IoT systems and share their experience in this new field.

Everybody agrees that the technology will transform consumer lifestyles forever. At the same time, the question of what will be required for mass market uptake remains open.

All in all, more devices are becoming available to make homes smarter and at least theoretically make our lives more comfortable. The maturing of the technology, more companies opening APIs, ecosystems which enables third party devices as well as interest and investments from well-known closely-related brands like Samsung, Apple and Google brings it closer to the mass market. Is it enough to attract an average consumer to adopt a smart home solution in their home? Are consumers actually ready to make their homes smart? Are consumers even interested in doing so? Do they even know what the smart home has to offer?

To some degree a parallel can be drawn with smartphone adoption. The smartphone concept was not an Apple invention. A variety of different devices were taken up by early adopters with and without GSM connectivity. Brands that were leaders at that early stage of adoption like Palm and Psion are unlikely to be recognised by today’s average smartphone consumer. The breakthrough of an Apple smartphone made this technology easy to use as well as providing users with an attractive device. The expansion of mobile broadband and the popularity of social networks together with the development of applications that enhanced the mobile experience has resulted in the mass market adoption of the technology that we observe today.

Similarly in the smart home market, vendors are focusing on developing products that either simplify or that offer additional benefits to what is already in use in the home. More and more companies focus on streamlining the installation process to appeal to a mass market audience. One example is Nest which promises its thermostat will be working within half an hour of being taken out of the box, something that before required a professional installer.

The organisers of this year’s Smart Home Summit were correct to address the main question of bringing the smart home to the masses. They offered an informal platform to bridge vendors that are making smart homes a reality with their views as to how the market should be and those who deal with consumers on an everyday basis, such as large retail stores. Both sectors identified common problems such as lack of awareness by consumers about smart home solutions being a significant barrier to the adoption of smart home technology. For the smart home market to really take off technology – while it will play an important role –will not in fact make the sale on its own and players from associated sectors need to cooperate.

By Olena Kaplan, senior analyst, Beecham Research