Despite all the media noise around connected home solutions and a rapid increase in a variety of smart home technologies available on the market, the adoption of such solutions still lays within its primary stage. How popular are connected smart solutions in the USA and what stops them from faster growth and complete adoption?
How widespread is the adoption of connected home solutions?
By the end of 2017, only 16,3% of US homes were projected to be smart homes with a mild increase to 35,6% by 2021. The US market for smart home solutions was growing steadily in the last couple of years, reaching 29 million US dollars in 2017 with the compound annual growth rate equal to 31%. However, only 37% of this growth is due to new home connections.
This means that the adoption of connected home solutions is not as widespread as experts had predicted when they were calling 2017 a year of the smart home. Moreover, we can see that the market for smart home technologies is also far behind from reaching its potential.
What stops connected smart home solutions from a fast mass adoption?
Captured in the stage of early adopters, smart home providers should push harder in order to inspire a mass consumer to adopt more. The main reasons for a slow adoption of smart home solutions are unclear communications on the value propositions of these products alongside their complex nature. In other words, a mass consumer does not understand all the benefits of smart home technologies and is confused by an immersive number of smart solutions and a complexity of each. The US consumers simply don’t understand why and how to use home tech.
Furthermore, the majority of US consumers still can’t afford to buy a smart home solution. In the meantime, McKinsey report states that price is indeed the main buying influence for US thermostat owners.
Those who have already adopted some smart home technologies, know how frustrating it can be to integrate them into your home and other smart devices. The US consumers still face a lot of daily issues searching for a comprehensive smart home solution despite recent technology advances.
There is also a strong disbelief in the security of smart technologies that prevent consumers from using it. Moreover, no single product on the market today is able to fulfill all existing consumer’s needs. Hence, consumers are obliged to buy several different gadgets that, at the end of the day, can not be integrated together.
So, what smart home providers should do?
There are two main ways how providers can increase the adoption of smart home technology. First, they have to communicate better the value of their products, so that consumers understand why they have to pay such a high price for them. Second, they should decrease their prices, which will happen normally with the increase of players on the home tech market.
If you want to hop on the smart home consumption curve before its mass adoption, we suggest you read our blog on Simple home automation projects you should start today.
