Smart home is a smart system that anticipates and responds with intuitive and at times automated control of some or all of the amenities in a home that include TV, lighting, music, safety & security, climate, energy & water, and more. The smart home technology has grown tremendously since 2010 and transitioned from wired technology to wireless technology with emergence of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and mobile Internet. The Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled the rapid growth of smart homes, connecting physical devices with internet connectivity and sensors providing new services to households. The trend of smart home is shifting towards the centralized control. For example, Amazon Echo and Google Home are heading in the direction of centralized smart home control.
The smart home market has reached to about $ 12.5 billion in 2017 and is expected to grow at ~15% annually through 2023. This growth is expected to be driven by the factors, such as considerable growth of IoT market, improving energy efficiency, and increasing demand for security devices. A major factor restraining the growth of this market is the security issues over internet. Favorable government regulations are being implemented in several countries across the globe and next generation technologies, such as 3D gesture-based remote control in the home entertainment will present huge opportunities for smart home market.
The market for entertainment and other controls has accounted for the largest share of the smart home market in 2017, attributed to the high penetration rate of products such as smart meters and smoke detectors. Although the increasing cost of electricity is a major concern for household consumers, the market for energy saving devices will have a higher demand through 2023. Changing lifestyles and rising purchasing power of people are also expected to drive the market for smart home products worldwide. The market for lighting control is expected to grow at a higher rate because these smart home products are aimed at reducing electricity consumption in homes during the day.
The software and services pertaining to smart homes has been growing at a considerable rate as it enables users to control systems and devices installed in their homes. Most of the devices/systems, such as lighting control, HVAC control, security and access control, entertainment control, smart kitchen, and smart home appliances can be accessed and controlled using smartphones, computers, tablets, laptops, and hubs as these are enabled by the compatible software solutions and algorithms designed by smart home providers. Vivint, Inc. (US.), Comcast Corporation (US), The ADT Corporation (US), GE Healthcare (UK), AT&T, Inc. (US), Siemens Healthcare (Germany), Opower (US) and Time Warner Cable (US) are some of the major players that provide software solutions and services for smart homes.
North America accounted for the major market in 2017, accounting for ~45% of the global smart home market. However, the rising number of new residential projects and the increasing initiatives to strengthen the building infrastructure and increased focus on smart homes and smart cities is expected to make Asia-Pacific a potential market through 2023. The demand for energy saving products in Europe is also an important market for smart homes, as this region has been majorly focusing on energy savings.
Some of the major players in the smart home market include Siemens AG (Germany), General Electric Company (US), Johnson Controls, Inc. (US), Schneider Electric (France), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Honeywell International, Inc. (US), United Technologies Corporation (US), Ingersoll-Rand PLC (Ireland), Samsung Electronics Co., and Legrand S.A. (France).