Mexico. A smart home is one in which everything is connected. Smart home devices are all technologies that have been designed to make life easier for users at home, as the name says, they are smart devices that usually use Wi-Fi and are controlled by a software application through a smartphone, tablet or smart speaker.
From devices like Alexa, which can control the lighting of your home, its intensity or put it in "romantic" mode, to vacuum cleaners that help us do one of the most tedious tasks we have at home such as cleaning, while you finish working.
Although the global economy is still slowly recovering and many consumers have chosen to save on some expenses, it is also true that the adoption of the hybrid or work-from-home model has made consumers have an additional motivation to make their home more functional and comfortable. This is why the growth prospects for the Smart-Home devices market in the medium and long term are promising and positive.
This makes the present a key time for companies' marketing and product strategy areas to understand consumer preferences and habits, and their prioritization when adopting products in the corresponding categories, says a GfK report called "Measure, Control. act: Smart Home Dynamics", which assessed the dynamism of the Smart-Home device market.
"The global average of people who own a smart device is 1.5, while in some countries in Europe they exceed the average of 2.2, so in that region they are ahead in the adoption curve. In Latin America, Brazil is in the lead with an average of 1.3, which is close to the global figure, so the opportunities for companies in the region are to follow the trends and learnings acquired by other countries at a more advanced stage, and then create a pipeline of new products in their portfolio that can generate a new source of income and anticipate the increase in demand from the consumers in the medium and long term," said Carolina Motta, Commercial Manager of GfK Latam.
As an example of the above, robot vacuum cleaners and smart TVs are categories in which more than 70% of the product units sold already have a smart/connected function, so they are well developed and offer more opportunities to manufacturers. On the other side of the spectrum, however, is LED lighting, with around 3% of sales units attributed to products with a smart function (smart lights). Here, the opportunity is to understand the barriers for consumers in order to grow the segment, the study notes.
What is the biggest area of opportunity to grow the Smart-Home market?
The opportunity in this industry lies in fruitful partnerships between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and enablers, creating solutions that work in a more collaborative ecosystem. For example, in laptops we see the partnership between OEMs and processors, while in smart home product categories collaboration starts with OEMs creating products with voice control commands, by partnering with voice assistants like Alexa or Google.
The challenge lies in how to make products converse with each other at home when they are not all on the same platform. That's where the existence of Matter is important to change and improve the way smart home products will interact. Matter is a common language for smart home devices that will simplify everything related to the smart home, from purchase to setup and daily use and its biggest promise is to make smart devices work with each other across platforms and ecosystems, regardless of who manufactured them.
The devices with Matter work with all of them and can be part of several platforms at the same time, that is, you can control smart lighting, smart locks, etc., with Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant and even Bixby. It's a great option for cross-platform homes and if there's an iPhone, Samsung, and even a Fire tablet in the family, everyone will be able to control home devices with Matter included.
"Smart and connectivity features continue to be the best advantages for the premiunization of products if used properly, therefore, companies in the Latin American region should bet on growth in this niche for the coming years," the report stresses.
In conclusion, as technology advances and industry stakeholders address these obstacles, consumer adoption of smart home devices is likely to increase. However, addressing concerns related to cost, complexity, privacy, interoperability and user experience will be the responsibility of manufacturers and will also be essential to overcome such barriers and accelerate the widespread adoption of smart home technology.
Overall, investing in smart home devices enables businesses to enter a rapidly growing market, generate revenue, differentiate themselves from the competition, foster customer loyalty, gain valuable data, contribute to sustainability efforts, and drive technological innovation. These factors make smart home devices an attractive investment opportunity for companies across multiple sectors.
