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Smart Home Market Worth $6B by End of 2017 and Rising Fast


Smart home devices are shaking off their novelty image and moving mainstream to become one of the fastest growing consumer electronics categories of 2017. That’s according to a new smart home report from Futuresource Consulting, which reveals that the devices will achieve a retail value of $6bn worldwide this year, with revenues expected to triple by 2021.

Alexa and the Google Assistant, embedded in a range of devices, are making inroads into smart home control, with Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana currently lagging behind in the smart home. However, the success of smart speakers and the intuitive nature of voice is not toppling the ever-present nature of smartphones, which are still the go-to interface for controlling smart home devices.

Watch this space for combined voice and sensor control embedded into your smart refrigerator, wall art, mirrors, set-top boxes and TVs, any of which could become the means by which users give commands to their smart home.

There are currently four main smart home categories, namely hubs and control devices, security and monitoring, climate control and lighting systems.

An increasing consumer appetite for all things smart home is giving rise to a range of other smart home devices beyond the four main categories. This includes an assortment of devices from smart mirrors to smart fragrance diffusers, but also basic smart home items such as connected sockets.

At present, North America represents over 60 percent of global smart home shipments and will continue to take the lion’s share out to 2021 and beyond. In Europe, the UK is playing a starring role in the smart home revolution. With a smaller population than both Germany and France, the UK outstrips them as the biggest market for smart home products in Western Europe. Looking to the Asia Pacific region, South Korea is leading the way and growing fast, due to a combination of home grown CE brands and an early adopter mindset.

The Middle East and Africa are behind the smart home curve, although the region is experiencing pockets of innovation and a number of market opportunities, which are covered in more detail in the Futuresource report.

In channel terms, retailers and service providers are the main contributors to the smart home device market. Custom installers currently account for less than 20 percent of installations and most of the growth is coming from easy-to-install DIY devices.

To order the report, go here.

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