The Smart Home: Big Brother or Swarm Intelligence?

Within the Smart Home, Semico has been tracking over 70 items that every household can expect to purchase that will include some type of sensor and wireless chip by 2020.  This new connected home includes white goods (clothes washer, clothes dryer, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc.), HVAC, lighting, small appliances, door locks, security system, windows and more. 

This market is primed to be a high growth industry with low barriers to entry, which is why Semico is releasing a new report titled: The Smart Home: Big Brother or Swarm Intelligence.   

“These are not the smart homes depicted by shows like The Jetsons, or the wired “smart” homes that have been available since the 60s.” says Michell Prunty, Senior Consumer Analyst for Semico Research.  “Today, the market is becoming predictive with potentially endless applications that can be connected to the ‘hive mind’ of the home now that the Cloud can take on much of the data load.  The barrier to entry is minimal, and we’ll be seeing a swarm of little sensors monitoring our every movement.”

Semico’s research report The Smart Home: Big Brother or Swarm Intelligence examines the ecosystem of the Smart Home including smart meters, environmental controls, smart lighting, home automation, gardening, and home security.  Some of the key findings include:

• Total units shipped in 2020 will reach over 4.6 billion
• The Smart Home market will experience a CAGR (’14 – ’20) of 28%
• The security segment is pushing smart technology into the home, comprising 40% of the market
• Total installed base will reach over16 billion units worldwide by 2020

Semico’s The Smart Home: Big Brother or Swarm Intelligence provides insight into market dynamics including how crowd sourcing is affecting the market.  The report mentions several key players including:

Control4, INSTEON, Siemens AG, Savant, Apple, Omek, Movea, AirBulb, SnapRays, Ring, LIFX, SmartThings, Almond+, Ninja Sphere, The Pocket TV, Plum, NanoLight, Plugaway, Air Quality Egg, Soap, Nest, AROS, CubeSensors, Air Purifiers, Acuity Brands Lighting, OSRAM, Zuli Smartplug, Belkin, Bose, Sonos, legrand, URC, B.E.G, Droplet, Lono, August, Kwikset, ABB, ADT, AT&T, Broadcom, Freescale, GE, NXP, Texas Instruments, LonWorks, etc.