This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the Smart Home market. This segment comprises 11 sub-applications, including Baby Alarms, Consumer Webcams, Home Fitness Equipment, Home Weather Stations, Household VoIP Phones, Household Information, Photo Frames, Kitchen Equipment, Fixtures & Fittings, Toys, and Other Consumer.
One of the principal drivers for smart home devices has been the improved user experience that connected devices offer in comparison to a non-connected equivalent. Many smart home devices gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic with consumers spending more time indoors and entertaining themselves at home. This propelled demand for devices such as consumer webcams, household VoIP phones, smart fitness mirrors, and smart coffee makers. Other drivers have been evolving consumer lifestyles, the rising number of women in the workforce, and the greater convenience and control that many devices enable.
Many smart home devices require high-speed internet; their presence in homes means that Wi-Fi and Ethernet are both common, although some devices will make use of cellular. Bluetooth connectivity is common too, for pairing with other devices and smartphones. The Matter consortium and the Thread protocol are likely to accelerate the growth and adoption of smart home devices through better interoperability and an open ecosystem of vendors and developers.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used and revenue.
A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector break-downs and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
This section first explains what Smart Home includes and its drivers (improving user experience in comparison to a non-connected equivalent). It then discusses a major challenge to the market: purchasing a new smart home device often means replacing a current non-connected device.
The report examines key factors that are influencing the development of the market, including:
This section of the report has been further divided into the following subsections.
This subsection explains how remote software upgrades are a major driver for smart home products and their benefits, such as providing access to new consumer features. It also discusses the difficulties associated with remote software upgrades and talks about how this market received a major boost during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also adds that since the pandemic, economic conditions and consumer confidence have significantly reduced, indicating that consumers will be more cautious towards making retail purchases, especially for luxurious and costly products.
This subsection charts the connectivity technologies (including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth technology, and cellular communication) that many smart home devices rely on to remain compatible with smartphones.
This subsection defines Matter and Thread, and then explains how the use of both these solutions has accelerated the prospects of growth and adoption of smart home devices. It further adds that recent updates have focused on improving user experience and encouraging use in new device types, and that the ecosystem has been broadened to cover new major device types, such as solar panels, batteries, water heaters, and heat pumps, and adds energy management features.
It explains how consumer webcams and baby monitors are susceptible to security threats (like hacking) and how vendors such as Nest and Hangzhou Xiongmai have both suffered from high-profile security breaches in the past.
This subsection expounds upon the availability of alternatives to smart home devices. For instance, baby cameras can be replaced by security cameras or webcams. Similarly, smartphones can be used instead of mirror screens and VoIP phones, and local weather information is readily available for home weather station users.
This section of the report describes what baby alarms or monitors are in general, and then it engages in a comparison between traditional baby alarms (along with their features and drawbacks) and the upgraded versions of baby alarms (like the Miku baby monitor) and their features.
It focusses on the communication technologies that are currently used to support these baby alarms (like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). It also comments on the use of high-frequency RF communication technology, previously used by non-connected baby alarms, and the challenges they faced.
This subsection focusses on some of the pressing challenges of baby alarms (including hacking, high price, and accuracy limitations) and explores how baby wearables (like Halo) can be an alternative to these alarms. It also describes some baby alarms currently available in the market, including Nanit Pro Baby Monitor and Cubo AI Plus.
This section explains how the demand for webcams has increased significantly, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic (since working and studying from home has increased significantly) , their features, challenges (like the availability of similar products such as security cameras and doorbells), and then describes one example of a consumer webcam.
This section of the report first talks about how the pandemic increased the sale of home fitness equipment and then adds that, although in the last four years, the pandemic-driven boom in home workouts has subsided and consumers have returned to gyms, fitness-related consumer spending has remained resilient. However, it further explains that since many consumers now choose to spend on fitness activities outside the home, there is a shift in demand over the past five years, and fitness equipment companies such as Tonal and Peloton have experienced valuation declines. It then discusses the advantages of connectivity in this space, since this allows deeper integration with applications and improves functionality. It also talks about factors such as space requirement and prohibitive cost, which may affect their adoption.
It further adds that due to high purchase costs and poor retention, some consumers have begun renting equipment instead of purchasing new fitness equipment, and also charts some examples of popular products in this Application, including Nordic Track Commercial 2450 Treadmill and Peloton Bike.
This section explains how home weather stations function and their benefits in general. It then shifts its focus to connected weather stations, states their advantages (like they can be customised to add further features as per requirement), describes their components and how they function, charts their price range, and lists the barriers hampering their adoption (such as the availability of weather applications). It also talks about some common products in this application like Legrand Netatmo Weather Stations.
This section first describes what VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is, and then lists some of its features (like increased portability), before explaining why its adoption is gaining significant momentum in countries such as the UK and France. It also claims that the availability of digital communication technologies (such as VoIP) has made old analogue solutions such as PSTNs obsolete, and in a tabular format, lists countries and their PSTN witch-off announcements in countries including, Australia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US. For instance, in Denmark, the Danish government has announced PSTN switch-off by 2030. It then explains how the pandemic increased its demand and the challenges it currently faces. It also adds some popular examples of Household VoIP Phones, like 1-VoIP Residential and AXvoice.
It first explains what this segment encompasses, which includes smart clocks, connected calendars, smart mirrors, and Home Area Network (HAN) energy management devices. It then goes on to explain the features of smart mirrors (like providing daily news and weather updates and guiding users through their daily workouts), their connectivity technologies (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), and challenges (being expensive).
It then focuses on home energy (HAN) devices, explaining how they work and benefit users. Case in point, by providing visibility into energy consumption, HAN devices can influence behaviour and reduce electricity use; evidence from the UK smart meter programme shows that households with in-home displays linked to smart meters achieve average electricity savings of around 2–3%. It also adds that consumer engagement is a key determinant of the effectiveness of HAN devices and that the adoption and maturity of these devices vary significantly by geography, and then in a tabular format, it describes the HAN adoption rules across different countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA. For instance, since 2020, in the UK, a standard smart metering installation for gas and electricity smart meters includes both meters, an In-Home Display (IHD), and a communications hub. IHD devices communicate via HAN and suppliers are required to make consumption and tariff information available to consumers through these devices in domestic premises. It also charts some popular examples of devices in this category, including Hilo Light and Aztech In-Home Displays.
This section explains how digital photo frames are different from traditional photo frames, their features (like being equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity), price range, and the barriers towards their adoption (such as the availability of more sophisticated devices equipped with multiple features, such as video screens, speakers, and microphones). It also discusses a few photo frame offerings, including Nixplay smart photo frames and Aura smart photo frames.
This section of the report first explains what smart kitchen appliances are and then charts their features. It then focusses on one of the most popular products in this application – smart coffee makers and talks about their features (like being able to be integrated with virtual assistants like Google Assistant) and benefits. It also describes a few products from this application, including Bosch coffee machines and Chef IQ Smart Cooker.
This section of the report first describes what all are included under “Smart fixtures and fittings” (including showers, toilets and more), alludes to the connectivity technology these devices use, and states their features (in the context of smart toilets). It also gives a few examples of the relevant products in this application, such as Kohler Numi Smart Toilet.
This section first defines connected toys and then explains how they work. It also charts their benefits and challenges. For instance, connected LEGO toys help children develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills, but connected toys also have high prices, subscription charges, increased device dependence, and screen time.
It also provides some examples of Toys and describes their features and prices. For instance, Miko-3 is designed for 5-10 years old children and is being sold in 140 countries. Priced at USD199, the robot uses deep-learning AI and interactive sensors, and offers voice interaction, conversational learning, educational games, quizzes, stories, music, and movement activities.
This section of the report first charts what other consumer smart home devices comprise, discusses their common features and uses, and the factors that have increased their demand.
It then talks about the niche products that fall under this section, including smart humidors and smart mailboxes, and their utilities. It also describes a few examples of Other Consumer products and their features and prices, including Eight Sleep Pod 5 Ultra.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the market, such as Bosch, Lenovo, ChefIQ, Kohler, Philips, and Echelon. The report provides profiles of the various vendors, including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the number of smart home devices, which will grow from 669 million in 2025 to 1.8 billion in 2035.
Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the smart home application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Smart Home Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 9%.
