In today’s world everything that you can possibly think of is connected to the internet. Each and everything starting from a dishwasher to a car can be connected to the internet. Most of the devices that we use today are already connected to the internet. These are called as smart home equipments. These equipments are becoming more affordable with each passing year. So what exactly is a Smart Home? And how is it different from Home Automation?
Smart Home:
Smart Home is something that makes one’s home smarter. Normally the appliances at your home are connected to a cloud or some software that enables them to function independently. This is usually based on a fixed pattern or an algorithm that ensures its smooth functionality.
Home automation:
This terminology on the other hand defines what smart homes can exactly do. It involves automation of home gadgets and home appliances that would otherwise require manual operation. One of the examples of home automation is scheduling of the lights at home which can turn off at sunrise and turn back on after sunset.
Below mentioned are some of the Smart Homes statistics:
- There were 47 million smart home devices which were shipped in the year 2015 and 80 million were shipped in 2016. There is an increase of 64% in the year 2016.
- Experts have predicted that in the year 2017, more than 130 million smart products will be shipped worldwide.
- There is a huge demand for voice control capabilities in America. 72% of Americans with smart home devices are demanding voice control systems while 48% of the Americans already have the system in place.
- 81% of those with smart home devices are of the opinion that it would be more fitting for them to purchase a house that is directly connected to latest technology.
Smart Home market forecasts:
There have been many guesses about the future prospects of the smart home market. While the predictions keep on varying, we decided to do our own research and arrived at the below mentioned projections till the year 2020.
- Approximately 477 million smart home devices will be shipped around the world in 2020.
- It is predicted that nearly 152 million cars will be connected to the internet. Till the year 2014, 23 million cars were reportedly connected.
- Around 100 million light bulbs are going to be connected to the internet.
- The valuation of smart home market is expected to reach 21 billion dollars in the year 2020. In the year 2013 it was valued at 4.4 billion dollars.
- By the year 2020, the internet of things is expected to generate a whooping value of over 300 billion dollars.
- The internet of thing will become more business critical.
- Energy management will continue to be the flag-bearer of smart home penetration.
- Security equipments are also expected to give a big push to the smart home market. It is predicted that 709 million internet of things security devices will be shipped worldwide by 2019.
- It will be easier for elderly or ill to stay at their homes, thanks to the smart home devices.
Smart home industry, despite of the above growth prospects, continues to face challenges which are more like barriers. First one being that, in the coming 12 months, 70% of the total consumers haven’t showed signs of purchasing any smart home device, which means that brands will have a difficult time attracting the consumers towards their smart home products.
Looking from the regional perspective, Internet of things solution providers have increased their efforts in the APAC region. It is because the experts have already predicted that this region will account for the majority of business by 2020.
Looking at the components of the internet of things solution lineup, the hardware continues to dominate followed by the services. Internet of things will soon be a part of our daily lives. The only thing that the service providers will have to care about is to be able to tackle the outcome and the ability to deliver seamless service.
