The internet is in everything these days, from thermostats to doorbells and everything in between. But with privacy concerns, security and functionality issues, consumers have a love/hate relationship with smart home gadgets. So, do smart home integrations make sense to consider in 2021?
Here we’ll explore what the consumer and market intelligence has to say about this emerging trend with a focus on:
- Consumers growing more tech-focused
- The smart home market landscape
- Options revealed through smart brand sampling
And of course, here are some related statistics to help set the stage:
- 8% of smart homes are vulnerable to cyber-attacks through at least one device. Printers are the most common susceptibility.
- Globally, the smart home market stood at $55.65B in 2015, and projections approach the vicinity of $400B by 2030.
- Forecasts predict the number of IoT devices to more than double from 2020 to 2025 to a total of 75 billion devices.
With that, let’s get better connected to the online conversation and see how consumers feel.
Consumers are Increasingly Tech-focused
Brands engaging with consumers over smart home devices have their homework cut out for them. Despite some misgivings, they love tech that makes their lives easier. Sentiment is soaring in the online conversation, but there is a lot of nuance acting as an undercurrent in the online discussion.
Net sentiment over the past month stands at an impressive 74% on a scale of -100 to 100, indicating a healthy embrace of home-related tech right now. But a peek into the underlying attributes driving sentiment reveals some of the issues brands will want to address.
Many of the attributes in red correspond to some of the top issues that confront consumers in smart home adoption, which include:
- Expense of products
- Vulnerability of devices to hacking
- Privacy concerns
- Intra-device compatibility
Brands will do well to point their consumer and market intelligence towards these issues to meet them head-on. However, it’s worth noting that a privacy paradox exists wherein consumers tend to overlook these concerns in favor of their wants and needs. Armed with this knowledge, savvy brands can work to remove or reduce this inner conflict as they navigate this emerging trend.
A peek into Quid Social at the conversational fluctuations filtered for neutral and negative sentiment is a great place to start.
Here we can see the most relevant topic clusters as they wax and wane over time, along with pertinent keywords that brands will want to explore in relieving tech-focused consumers from their apprehensions.
Smart Home Market Landscape
The smart home market has seen continued growth year over year, which looks to continue if forecasts become a reality. The market saw growth of 14.94% this year despite the pandemic, and projections foresee a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% through 2024.
Consumer and market intelligence will play a key role for brands with interests in the smart home space as this kind of growth would represent a market expansion of $65.95B in just a few short years.
And brands will want to pay attention to regional movements in the markets as this accelerated trend matures. North America holds the largest share of the smart home market at roughly 36%, but the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market will see the fastest growth by CAGR over the next few years.
Additionally, innovation in the smart home market is extremely active, as evidenced by patent applications. Quid’s patent dataset reveals 3,769 patents in the space over the last three years.
A bar chart featuring the top ten patent filers shows Samsung Electronics at the top with an astonishing 191 patents with a median grant date of June 2020. Google comes in second with 130, followed by Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances at 86.
The top ten patent filers related to smart home technologies account for 630 filings in just three years, which indicates a market on the move.
Smart Brand Sampling Shows Some Options
All of those patents are leading to some pretty cool devices in the smart home industry. And no matter the product, consumers love to talk about them online or interact with their favorite brands. Here are a few that are getting people excited.
Samsung’s contribution to the world of smart appliances includes a refrigerator that allows you to see what’s inside without ever opening the door. The feature-rich display can even mirror your phone or TV while you cook. It can even handle your calls while you’re chopping your veggies.
Miele is packing its ovens with some pretty remarkable features. Thanks to an internal camera and mobile connectivity, users can monitor their bread baking in the oven while sipping a drink on the patio. Some models can even sense when the food is done and cracks the door open to prevent overcooking. Something this user will be excited to learn.
KitchenAid, well-known for its colorful retro-inspired stand mixers, has gotten into the smart oven game as well. KitchenAid’s Smart Oven+ lineup includes steamer, baking stone and grill attachments that can be monitored through their mobile app. It’s a next-gen line of products featuring vivid color displays that take cooking to a new level.
Having multiple smart devices in your home can get a little overwhelming with a dedicated app for each. Google Home is your one-stop app to get them all under one roof. Instead of pulling up one app to turn on the lights and another to change the thermostat, Google Home brings the functionality of native smart home apps under its umbrella, making your life a little easier.
Google Nest Combines It All
And for the utmost in functionality and ease of use Google Nest’s array of smart home products integrate seamlessly with Google Home, bringing together form and function. The Google Nest suite of products includes speakers, displays, home security products, thermostats and much more.
With an inordinate amount of people spending more time at home during the pandemic, the smart home market has fared well – and the future is bright. As we enter the new year, consumer and market intelligence will be crucial for brands to monitor shifting consumer behavior and make the necessary changes.
Is your brand synced-up to the burgeoning smart home market? There’s more to come on the horizon, so be sure to reach out for a demo and we’ll get you plugged into the latest on this accelerated trend.
