Smart Home Update

Smart home had another year of fabulous growth in 2018,

with Futuresource estimating that shipments grew by 39

percent last year.

This consumer electronics category is now worth more

than $12 billion globally and shipped over 100 million

devices in 2018. The industry is tackling some important

challenges like interoperability, but still lags in addressing

issues that concern consumers and deter mass adoption,

such as data safety.

Improved interoperability and ease of use can be counted

among the industry’s more important successes, and voice

assistants have been key to progress in this area. Smart

speakers have become the seamless hub that directly

controls a myriad of devices and appliances around the

home. The quick adoption of smart speakers also matters

for the wider industry because they are a common first step

for consumers into the smart-home ecosystem.