Metering & Smart Energy Amy RyanNovember 4, 2015
The report predicts that the use of wearable devices to passively supply data to control smart home devices will emerge as a key use case towards 2020.
The study cites companies that have presented products and services in the home automation market, including Samsung, which expects 100% of its portfolio to be “connectable” by 2020.
The report also noted that the market will continued to be shaped by high prices and low value in connectivity.
Senior analyst at Juniper Research Steffen Sorrell said: “Samsung is fairly unique in that it has a diverse portfolio of consumer electronics and appliance products.
“Therefore, having a connected everything strategy makes sense for it, even if SmartThings-Samsung Smart Home doesn’t take off. It’s hardware, and potential service revenues when connectivity is made use of, will benefit from smart home take-up regardless.”
Number of connected appliances to rise
The research report added that the number of connected smart home appliances is expected to rise to more than 20 million by 2020.
It also identifies the use of voice control as well as other ‘hands-free’ mechanisms that will become the main interface between users and devices in the smart home.
Mr Sorrell adds: “Home automation is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. To demonstrate value, in this case products working together, you need to add more devices and sensors into the home.
“But how do you convince the consumer to buy into that? That’s where we believe retail will play a crucial role … there are differences in the drivers behind smart home uptake–security, home comfort and so on.
He continued: “Players with the biggest reach will need to look at those elements and adjust their offering accordingly.”